Dreams of Sakura
by Valorphoenix
Summary: Someone has kidnapped Ranma? How will the Nerima crew handle this? Will he even want to return?
1. Chapter 1 Childhood Dreams

Standard Disclaimer(1 a : a denial or disavowal of legal claim): Ranma 1/2 and it's characters are copyright to Rumiko Takahashi and which ever company may hold local copyrights in your area(Viz in North America). I did hire a babysitter for the characters, but now I'm being sued for 'trauma' caused by Kuno. Bah, baka bokken boy.  
Moderate Crossover, but I won't list who from where before they appear. ;-)

Story Tags: [Continuation, Post Vol. 38][Moderate crossover][Lime Flavored (Mature Situations, Nudity)]  
Story Seeds: Quite a few, guess them or email me if you want them. A story seed is like the basic premise of a story, commonly given at the beginning of 'Bet' entries.

Rated **R** for fairly serious plot, adult situations, frontal nudity, violence, language, and flying monkeys. Over all, like the manga, but more serious.

Contact info: email valorphoenix@yahoo.com ICQ # 1685995. If you're using ICQ, please be semi-polite and to the point. I'm generally happy to discuss things but not much for small talk.  
Website: 

**Author's Notes:** I was expecting this chapter to hit 8,000 words, not 14,000. Writing Burning Eyes 01 really helped me move along on this. I think it came out fairly well. Ranma will be acting abnormal in this, though for good reason, which will be revealed. Like the cannon, this isn't a match up story, though there may be a favorite at any given time, and someone might end up together. Don't think it's over just because of the last scene :p

Notes on HTML: If the text is to wide for comfortable reading, then simply resize your browser to be narrower. Also the version of this story on my website has imbedded pictures. For that version to work saved on a hard drive, simply save the pictures to the same folder. 

* * *

**Dreams of Sakura**: Part One

The night air in Nerima was chilly and a bit dry tonight, with only a few misty clouds in the sky tonight. The clouds were just enough to distort the moon into a hazy pale glow. Times like this was about the only time Ranma got some peace and quiet, and this was all to often disrupted. 

Such as right now, as some woman kneeling behind him had draped her arms over his chest in more of a caress than a hold. More than likely, it was Kodachi or some new girl in his life. Shampoo was actually to forward to really pull this off, and besides this girl was wearing a white kimono. If it was Kodachi, the situation could turn real badly if she managed to poison him and make off with him but the girl behind him had yet to show any aggressive intent like Kodachi. 

Warm breath caressed his neck, as a warm silky voice rich with emotion for him whispered his name into his ear. 

Ranma froze in surprise giving out a light gasp, as his eyes widened in shock. His throat was suddenly very dry, but after a minute, he managed to gasp out, "Sa-Sakura?" Cautiously he turned his torso around, not breaking her gentle hold on him to take in her form. She was as he remembered her, an ageless seeming Japanese woman with perfect pale skin, and long black hair that flowing past her shapely rear to pool on the roof behind her. Her kimono was a different one from last time, an elegant old white kimono with blue designs around the shoulders and end of the sleeves with a red sash around her waist. 

Her expression was just as he remembered as well. She was a refined lady, and it showed in her calm and controlled expression. She did however let all of her warmth and affection show in her eyes and smile, though it was so perfect and complete one would wonder if it was perhaps a mask to hide some motive behind a pleasant exterior. 

The beauty's smile widened at seeing Ranma's expression, before she leaned forward to place her lips near his left ear. Huskily she whispered, "I promised you Ranma, that I would come for you. It's your eighteenth birthday starting tonight." 

Then she lowered her head a little further, dipping her lips down to lay light kisses along the side of his neck, progressively kissing more forcefully. 

Still overcome with surprise, Ranma offered no resistance as his eyes lost focus before he lost consciousness. 

Smiling down at the insensate young man in leaning against her breast, Sakura whispered into his ear, "Happy Birthday." Her gaze turned distant as she reflected how long she had waited for this. After a moment, a sound reached her ears, and with a dim glow she and the young man in her arms disappeared before someone could interrupt them. 

* * *

Nodoka Saotome was long used to rising with the morning sun to start on morning chores. Today however she was wide-awake long before dawn. Last night she had been overcome with a horrible foreboding feeling. Since then she had tried to go back to sleep, but was far to worried to rest. Now though it was morning, and she could alleviate her concerns. After a moment, she calmed her nerves and called the Tendou's to ask about her son. 

Kasumi as expected answered the phone in her usual pleasant tones, "Good Morning, This is Kasumi Tendou." 

Nodoka was somewhat relieved to be so close to being reassured, "Yes, excuse me Kasumi, this is Auntie Nodoka. Is Ranma up yet? I had a horrible premonition last night." 

Kasumi paused in though, as Auntie seemed abnormally worried. "No Auntie, he isn't up yet, should I check on him?" 

"Yes please check on him." Nodoka gasped out a bit to hurriedly. 

Kasumi tried to sound reassuring, "Alright Auntie, I'll get Ranma and put him on the phone for you". Kasumi then set the phone down and presumably left. After a minute, Kasumi hesitantly picked up the phone and spoke, "I'm sorry Auntie, but he doesn't seem to have slept in his room last night". 

Nodoka swallowed deeply, as if she could assuage the growing pit of fear in her stomach by doing so, "Genma and I will be over right away." 

Path set, Nodoka almost slammed the phone down and ran back to her room to wake her husband. 

* * *

Soon after getting to the Tendou's, they started their search by contacting the usual suspects. The Amazons were checked first since they might have decided just to kidnap Ranma and take him back to China. The Amazons of course had been indignant of those accusations, but the rest didn't really believe them considering how things normally worked. 

Surprisingly it was Ukyou arriving that gave them their first clue. Ukyou had called them asking if Ranma was there and alright, and on receiving a negative answer, she had told them that Konatsu had seen something last night and they would be right over. 

Now that the cute chef had arrived along with her kimono clad gender reversed servant, Ukyou prodded Konatsu to tell them all what happened before everyone could start shouting to many demands for answers at the servile 'girl'. 

Konatsu kneeled down in her simple kimono and tried not to fidget under all of the attention, but began her report before she could get too flustered. "I was watching Ranma as Mistress Ukyou asked last night when I saw it happen. A beautiful traditional looking woman in a kimono appeared behind Ranma and grabbed him from behind. Ranma seemed to recognize her, blurted out the name "Sakura" in panic, and turned to look at her. Then he slumped in her arms and she disappeared. There was also a ninja girl with her who was very skilled. I never noticed her until she jumped to the woman before she disappeared, but she was apparently watching me." 

Cologne frowned at the description, muttering, "That sort of power isn't to be taken likely, nor a skill assessment from a ninja so skilled." Cologne stared upwards to the roof contemplatively, trying to sense any lingering auras. She could sense a few, and decided to share this information with the others, as this situation was already far too 'interesting' for her tastes. "I sense some powerful auras that are likely traces from our visitors. Certainly unnatural power, perhaps demonic." Cologne came out of her musing to see that oddly enough she was being mostly ignored. Everyone seemed to be staring at Genma for some reason. 'Ah' the elder mused to herself, 'the nervous sweating means the fat fool knows something about this and is trying to hide it.' 

The entire room stared Genma down, until his wife broke the silence while fingering her katana and developing an itch to use it, "Husband, what do you know of this? Have you dishonored our family again?" 

Genma certainly broke out in nervous sweats at that, surprising everyone that he hadn't gone panda yet in a pathetic attempt to hide or from the amount of sweat he was producing. Hastily he started protesting his innocence in this matter. "It's not my fault, honestly!" The combined glare of the room fool of irate people who could cause him intense pain spurred him on, "She's the woman who found Ranma when he was first in the neko-ken. I tried to get him back but I couldn't do anything to her. After a week though she just gave the boy back, but that woman is a demon. She simply ignored anything I tried to do and it failed, even direct attacks." 

The entire group was a bit surprised. They were used to Genma blustering and trying to make himself sound better, but he seemed genuinely terrified of this woman. Nodoka frowned thoughtfully at her overweight husband, "Is that all you know about her dear?" 

The master of Saotome Indiscriminate Grappling swallowed nervously, before haltingly continuing, "She found us again about five years ago, and simply disappeared with the boy for a week. She brought him back and he seemed happy. He said she promised to . . ." Genma trailed off and turned paler as he suddenly remembered why he had been in a hurry to get Ranma married before his eighteenth birthday. Genma continued without prompting, but seemed to be speaking to himself, "The demon said she would be back for him when he was eighteen. My son, the demon woman has him now . . . "

The entire crew was worried, but in serious times, wiser heads prevailed as Cologne mused outloud, "Did she seem to be an ageless beauty? A simple elegant kimono, long straight black hair and perfect skin? A old image of the perfect Japanese woman?" As reply she got a strong nod from Konatsu who was a good judge of fashion and beauty, and a slight nod from the still horrified Genma. With her answer she continued with her conclusion, "She sounds like the fabled Eternal Sakura. A mysterious woman rumored to be centuries older than myself and unaging. It is said she favors samurai, or more specifically, warriors with strong hearts." 

Ukyou muttered a distressed, "That sounds like my Ranchan. How do we find this woman?" 

Cologne shook her head sadly, "It sounds like she has the ability to teleport. If she did, then there is no trail to follow, and that would make her immensely powerful. I'll prepare some ceremonial scrying while the rest of you organize a more mundane search. I think we all agree it's not wise to let Ranma remain with such a woman. You don't kidnap someone with good intentions." 

* * *

Smirking, Nabiki did a more thorough data request. After two weeks of nothing, it was apparently her getting the first lead. Cologne's magical location attempts had been thwarted by obviously better magic. Ground searches by everyone else had been futile but mildly entertaining in all the fighting it caused. 

However, she wasn't about to fully trust her lead. After all of that she didn't expect to find Ranma taking private classes at a girl's college that was a bit over an hour away. The extra data search gave a Sakura Hisagawa as the one paying this Ranma's way, though that was apparently a formality, as she practically owned the college. It could be a fluke though since the small city seemed a bit famous for it's cherry trees. Still though it seemed a bit to convenient that a Ranma Saotome would suddenly enroll there for tutoring not to long after their Ranma disappeared. 

Tomorrow would be Wednesday, and that was just as good as any day to go. Quickly she got herself a train pass online, and made sure to get maps and area information, deciding to explore this herself tomorrow. It was apparently a beautiful area with a decent cheap college there, so it wouldn't be a waste if it wasn't where Ranma really was. 

Also as Akane had confided to her over a weak ago, Genma's story did have its holes in it. They knew that in nekoken mode that Ranma only went after people he liked, or barring that a nice person like Kasumi would do. This Sakura that calmed him down the first time had apparently been nice enough for Ranma, though that wasn't saying much since Akane her 'Nice violent maniac' sister qualified as well. The woman was probably to be respected though if she could trouble Genma like that. Genma had also let slip the second time she met Ranma, that Ranma was happy afterwards. That also wasn't saying much, as wild wolves would probably be a nice change from Genma on the road. More than likely the woman just had a sweat spot for Ranma and had actually fed the poor boy. 

Shaking her head at the unfailing stupidity and foolishness of Genma, Nabiki sat up and read up for her trip tomorrow. If it was just her, hopefully she could just reasonably find out what was going on. More than likely, she'd be able to ignore any of this foolishness that everyone else liked to wallow in. 

* * *

The next afternoon, Nabiki stepped off the train and checked her map. Her excuse for the trip was simple, she was checking out a good cheap college to attend next year. It was even mildly truthful, which was a pleasant experience. Now for the gritty part though, the Hisagawa house was near the campus, which was on the edge of town. Luckily the train station was on the same side of town, since the college was one of the bigger draws for the town. 

Sighing and grumping loudly at the unfairness of it all, Nabiki began the twenty minute hike to her destination at the Hisagawa residence. Her information search had mentioned a few weird things about the area, but no martial arts. Strange sightings were common though. That was a bit worrisome as she didn't have any concrete information, such as 'springs of sorrow', 'forrest filled with giant animals' or 'floating magical prince carrying island'. Hopefully she'd be able to handle the lack of information with her usual aplomb. 

On arriving at the gate of the Hisagawa residence, Nabiki developed a slight tick in her right cheek. Apparently, it was the Hisagawa manor, as in large mansion with accompanying estate. Her information hadn't prepared her for this, but hopefully it would be a profitable turn of events. 

Ringing the door bell brought a slight blond girl in a fancy dress and apron to the door. The young blond had a calm happy expression like Kasumi's, except hers was less happy and more intelligent, but not enough so to unnerve anyone. The blonde greeted her politely enough though, "Hello, may I help you?" 

Nabiki decided to get straight to the point with a minimum of politeness, "That's what I hope to know. Is a Ranma Saotome staying here?" 

The blonde gazed a bit more intently at her, something which few people would notice before replying with a counter question, "may I ask why you want such personal information?" 

Nabiki internally grinned as the girl's question gave herself away, but kept her expression mostly serious, "I'm looking for a missing person by that name." 

The blonde's expression didn't change much as she replied, "I suppose that will do Miss Tendou. Would you like to come inside?" 

Nabiki allowed herself to be led inside while outwardly examining the inside of the manor. Internally she was a bit worried at being recognized so early. She might actually end up dealing with intelligent people here. Nabiki allowed herself a frown as she enquired of her host, "So, is he here?" 

The pale skinned exotic beauty gaze Nabiki a sidelong glance as she led her to one of the greeting rooms which had a leather couch. The girl took up an odd position on the wide leather arm of the loveseat of the set, leaving Nabiki the couch. After a moment of sitting still the blonde's ear twitched and she gave her answer, "Master Ranma is currently bathing after his workout. "

Nabiki digested this information and chewed on it for a bit. The house was very nice. The furnishings were expensive and well chosen, and it all seemed well cared for. The blonde had not only referred to Ranma as Master, but seemed to hold genuine affection for him of a respectful kind. It would probably be to forward to outright ask what was going on, so she settled for asking, "Well, how is he?" 

The blonde didn't answer her question directly, simply smiling instead in her own way. "He will be here shortly and you'll be able to see for yourself." 

Silence descended between the two again, and while the blonde seemed comfortable with the quiet, Nabiki decided to get a little more information, "Well, since you seem to know who I am, care to tell me who you are?" 

The petite blonde settled herself on her perch before introducing herself, "I am Maria Belmont. I take care of the house and see to Master Ranma." 

Nabiki gave the girl a speculative look, noting her interest in Ranma and that this girl didn't seem to be that Sakura woman. "So, what's your interest in Ranma?" 

A bit of fondness slipped into Maria smile, making it much warmer. "Five years ago he valiantly saved my life." Maria closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them her smile had faded as she pinned Nabiki with an intense gaze, "Now that Ranma is with us, I will see to his happiness." 

Nabiki was a bit taken back by that last bit. She was used to declarations about Ranma, especially declarations of affection from girls about Ranma. This girl's statement was neither passionate nor melodramatic, instead it was a calm assured tone that told she was level headed and meant it. 

Nabiki was brought out of her thoughts by Ranma's voice, "Aww, what did I tell you about that Maria? Sure it was a little scary, but I was happy to help." 

Nabiki glanced at where Ranma's voice was coming from, but almost didn't recognize the young man standing in the open room entrance. The tanned and lean muscled frame was easily recognizable, as was his face. The relaxed happy expression was a bit surprising as it was odd to see Ranma relaxed normally. Nabiki was used to his confident nothing can get to me front. Also right now his hair was loose and hanging down damply on is back, while he was dressed in a simple white house kimono known as a yukata. 

Over all, he seemed to have a quiet confidence and an air of elegance that suited his natural grace. He gave Nabiki a quick look over, and then proceeded to sit on the loveseat beside Maria, who promptly slid down a few inches off of the arm of the short couch to sit partially in his lap. The easy familiarity was bothering Nabiki a bit, along with the fact that he hadn't reacted to her in any way that mattered. 

Nabiki's attention was diverted to the girl following Ranma as she walked between herself and Ranma to sit beside the young man on the couch, wedging him between two very attractive girls. The most notable thing about this new girl was her chest, though that led to noticing other visual clues about her. Her white yukata was barely holding in two volleyball sized breasts, and the girl's hair was damp, meaning she had apparently been in the bath with Ranma. 

Ranma willingly bathing with a girl that would make Shampoo green with envy showed just how odd this situation was. Nabiki shook that aside to take in the rest of the girl's features to try and prepare herself. Despite her immense breast size, she appeared to be Japanese, with dark green hair that hung straight and loose a bit past her shoulders. She seemed to have a light tan, and more muscle tone than Nabiki would expect, though certainly in a feminine manner. 

Overall Nabiki was certain Shampoo's jealousy fit over this girl's looks would be interesting to see, let alone how close this girl had managed to get to Ranma. Nabiki didn't even want to contemplate what her dear youngest sister's explosive reaction would be to this scene. 

Seeing she had a reaction from Ranma now, Nabiki turned her attention back to him. 

Ranma seemed satisfied gazing at Nabiki and finally spoke, "You're Nabiki right? Kasumi's sister?" 

Nabiki was a bit taken back by this line of questioning. It was almost like he didn't remember her, though something else about that question struck her oddly. Deciding to play along though, Nabiki nodded to the young man in a cute girl sandwich. "Yes I am, I take it you know why I'm here?" 

Ranma in turn nodded towards her, acting uncharacteristically together and calm. Then he turned to the petite blond in his lap and smiled at her, "Could I have some hot chocolate Maria?" 

Maria lit up with a pleasant smile, which she directed at Ranma while murmuring, "Of course Master Ranma." With that, the girl slipped from his lap and gracefully made her way to the kitchen with only a quiet swish of cloth. 

Ranma smiled fondly in her direction before turning back to Nabiki and adopting a serious thoughtful look. Finally, he answered her with a calm seriousness she found a pleasant surprise, "You're here to ask me out on a date?" 

Nabiki glared up at Ranma from her sudden position on the floor. She had been perched on the edge of the leather couch to prevent herself from getting comfortable and letting her guard down. Embarrassingly, Ranma's little stunt there had shocked her enough for her to lose her footing, so she ended up on her rump on the floor. Setting herself downing on the couch again, she tuned her glare down to a frown directed at Ranma. "That wasn't very funny Saotome." 

Ranma further annoyed her by just seeming to be a bit confused at her statement, before seemingly shrugging it off. "Well sorry Nabiki, but all I really remember about you is when we met and you thought I was cute. You seemed interested at the time, but I guess things changed between now and then." 

Nabiki blinked at that, as Ranma seemed oddly disappointed when he said that. Ignoring the admitted lapse in memory for the moment, Nabiki decided to poke at him, "Wanting to date me Saotome? I would think you already had enough girls to satisfy you right now?" 

The young Saotome seemed confused at what she said, but seemed to figure it out after a moment. With a shrug as he dismissed it from his mind he replied, "Eh, well if you don't want to be friends and have some fun, that's alright. I don't know how I could have to many friends though." 

The middle Tendou sister was once again pleasantly surprised by Ranma, and speculatively murmured, "Well, perhaps I was a bit hasty there Ranma. What did you mean about not remembering though?" 

Ranma in turn tilted his head slightly to the side, showing a lack of concern, "Well to be cured of something called the Nekoken I had to lose some of my memories. I remember some general stuff about you, and a few specific things, but not stuff that happened." 

Nabiki's eyes narrowed as she considered how convenient his memory loss was. Thinking it over for a second, she figured she would take him up on his offer for a date, as it was the best way to get to know the situation without raising any alarms. Smiling a bit to set him at ease, she inquired, "Well, I don't think I would mind a night out on the town. To be honest I wasn't sure I would find you here and was interested in the college as well." Once again Nabiki congratulated herself on her well done research. 

Ranma blinked at that, seeming to suddenly remember something. "Ah, That reminds me. Kasumi is invited to attend the college here. She can have free tuition and stay here in one of the rooms if she helps out around the house and cooks for me. I'll have a letter drawn up about it before you leave, okay?" Seeing Nabiki's surprise, Ranma decided to continue and hopefully guess right, "Well I think she deserves it, don't you agree?" 

Nabiki was touched by the kind offer, but very much suspicious about a number of things, "I thought your memory was swiss chessed?" 

Ranma nodded in turn, accepting her slightly accusatory tone, "She's the only person I really remember from the past few years." 

Nabiki accepted that and dismissed her concerns for a moment to grin at Ranma, "So you're giving her a college education just to keep eating her cooking? That's the Saotome stomach I know at least." 

Ranma just grinned and shook his head in amusement, then paused to accept a steaming cup of hot cocoa from Maria. Holding his arms up he allowed Maria to take her seat in his lap again and put his arms around her so he could hold his cup. 

Nabiki internally frowned in thought at seeing the two snuggled up again like that. It was odd to see Ranma so comfortable with a girl. It was obvious though that the two were simply comfortable together, and weren't acting like lovers. The almost forgotten busty girl was simply sitting beside Ranma companionably and watching Nabiki like a hawk. Hopefully she would find out more tonight on this little date about how far Ranma had gotten with the girls. Nabiki was pleasantly surprised though when Maria leaned over to hand her a cup of hot chocolate off of the tray she brought in. 

Quietly sitting there as everyone enjoyed their hot chocolate, Nabiki suddenly realized something as she watch Ranma settled comfortably in between the two girls. They were there simply to comfort Ranma. She could actually see how Ranma was relaxing between them, and from the fact that Ranma and the big busted girl were still in yukata and in no hurry to change, then they probably relaxed like this often, explaining part of the situation. Of course, she could be wrong about it, but it was her current understanding for the situation. Still though, Maria had sat on the arm of the couch, which only made sense if she was expecting this cuddle session to happen right now. 

After a few minutes of enjoyable peace in the gently sunlit room, Maria turned in Ranma's lap to face him and gently ask, "Master, will you be going out tonight?" 

Ranma gave her s gentle nod and murmured, "In a bit, I don't think there is any need to hurry." 

Maria and the green haired girl shared a look, until Maria quietly asked her, "Ayumi, would you inform the cook to save Master Ranma's portions for later?" The busty girl nodded her acceptance, then leaned over and kissed Ranma on the cheek, which was apparently a pleasant surprise for the boy. Nabiki wasn't too sure, whether it was the kiss or all that cleavage pressed up against him that surprised Ranma. 

Nabiki blinked as she realized the green haired girl had already slipped out of the room. She didn't think she was that distracted, though it was possible. Maria took this opportunity to turn herself in Ranma's lap, so that her slim legs were resting on Ayumi's recently vacated spot. She also wrapped her thin arms around Ranma's neck, while placing her head on his shoulder, in a position where she could kiss his neck easily. Ranma for his part transferred his cup of cocoa to his free hand, then placed his now free hand around the petite blonde's back. 

Nabiki could practically see Ranma's protective instincts kicking in with this girl. It was hard to tell with the somewhat ornate European style dress since it was so thick, but she placed the girl as smaller than even Ranma's girl form, which was fairly petite. This Maria however lacked female Ranma's curves and muscles, giving her a weak and vulnerable look that the girl was apparently taking advantage of Ranma with. 

Nabiki was so caught up in trying to figure out Ranma's current relationships, that she almost forgot that she had a date with him that was going to happen soon. That gave her a new plan of action for the moment. With a girl snuggling in his lap, Nabiki was open to teasing him either verbally or physically. Grinning a bit, she felt that physical teasing would give her the most interesting results. 

Setting her mug of hot chocolate on the table, Nabiki sashayed over to Ranma, standing by the spot on his free side. Maria obligingly tucked her leg in onto Ranma's lap, surprisingly Nabiki a bit as the girl apparently wasn't possessive. Nabiki took this opportunity to take Ranma's cocoa from him to set on the table, then pressed herself up against his free side. With her cheek almost resting on his left shoulder and with one hand around his back while the other rested on his thigh, she didn't get either of the two reactions she was expecting. 

Nabiki was expecting either his old nervousness, or the smoothness of his new playboy persona. Instead he seemed somewhat uncomfortable and confused. Unlike his old self though, he was controlling it, and cautiously put his free arm around her waist. Nabiki found the position surprisingly comfortable, as Ranma's presence was more pleasant than she remembered. Neither Ranma nor Maria said anything about her cuddling up to Ranma, so that gave her a moment to consider what she had just learned. 

Ranma had been surprised from her small show of affection, which meant he still wasn't used to girls showing affection, though it was nothing like how he much he used to react. That meant that Maria had been building up their closeness with lots of friendly activity. The girls were friendly and apparently didn't show any jealousy over Ranma, which explained a few more things about Ranma. 

They had somehow managed to make him forget everyone back in Nerima, except Kasumi oddly enough, and were working on getting to him slow and easy, with teamwork. It was also very obvious how well this was working for them, though Nabiki could see how it could easily be disrupted. 

Nabiki allowed herself to grin while giving Ranma a smoldering lusty look, as she started rubbing her hands around, especially the one on his thigh. Ranma was slowly but surely starting to squirm as he became increasingly uncomfortable with how forward Nabiki was being. Before it got to far and someone objected, Nabiki gave her captive young stud a smile and she rested her hands on him. She was pleasantly surprised when Ranma began rubbing the small of her back, apparently trying somewhat tamely to please her despite his discomfort. Nabiki allowed herself to purr a bit as she rested her head on his shoulder and looked up at him with a look that would melt most boys, "Oooh, you certainly know how to treat a girl." 

That was certainly true Nabiki was inwardly crowing. The girls were apparently not wasting their time with Ranma, and acting on his natural caring instincts that everyone in Nerima had done their best to blunt with mistreatment. That left Ranma open to non-hostile people such as herself however. Idly she wondered if she would have been able to get Ranma to act like this if she hadn't have foisted him off on her dear violent little sister. Ranma's impromptu massage of her back and sides was proving to feel very nice, and he was being attentive to both girls at the same time. 

Interruption to the mood came lightly, in the form of Ayumi's return. She was standing behind the could with her hands on Ranma's shoulders, letting him know she was there through physical contact before making her announcement, "Everything is in order, you should go get prepared now Master Ranma." 

Ranma simply tilted his head back to look up at the slightly grinning green haired girl, giving her a relaxed smile, "mhmm alright." Truth to be told, Ranma was just happy where he was and didn't feel any need to get out of the house to spend time with Nabiki since she was already cuddled up to him and being a bit to friendly. Still though, he knew that was no excuse not to get out for a while. Carefully he got up, simultaneously disentangling himself from Nabiki and setting Maria on her feet. Feeling the need to be a bit courteous he turned to Nabiki for a moment, "I should be ready shortly, then I can take you out, alright?" 

The middle Tendou daughter in turn gave him a saucy grin, "Sure thing Ranma, though if you make me wait to long, you'll just have to make it up to me tonight." 

Ranma in turn nodded to her, missing both her innuendo and a sense of impending financial ruin. As he and Maria left to get ready for tonight, Ayumi around the couch to sit next to Nabiki sideways on the couch so she was facing the flirty Tendou girl. Casting a quick glance to the way Ranma left to confirm he was gone, Ayumi turned a serious expression on Nabiki. "I know about your past actions Miss Tendou, and don't think you've been forgiven for your part in his suffering. I suggest you use tonight as a beginning to fix that." 

Nabiki took in the changes in Ayumi's clothes first. The girl was dressed in short sleeved dark blue kimono that stopped at mid-thigh, while the fabric above her red obi tried to contain her large bosom. Black stockings and a red sash around her waist serving as an obi completed the outfit. Retro-traditional clothing Nabiki mused, though it was a Japanese style of the short dressed that Shampoo wore, which was probably another thing Shampoo would be bent out of shape over. 

Assessment complete, Nabiki gave the green haired girl a smug but restrained grin to show she wasn't backing down, "Tough words from a kidnapper. You and that blonde seem to be working hard to get him wrapped up in you like that." 

Ayumi frowned at the girl, upset with her accusations, and crossed her arms under her chest, "We've been working hard to fix the trauma you girls have inflicted on the poor boy. Even without his memories, it's hard work. If you cause him any more pain, then I'll have to see to it that you leave him alone." 

Nabiki frowned at the girl. Her and Maria were being too serious for her tastes about this. It wouldn't do to anger them at this point nor make herself look weak, as either would damage her position with dealing with them about Ranma. Nabiki allowed herself a confident smirk as she addressed the green haired girl, "We'll see about that." 

The green haired girl gave Nabiki a light nod, but continued watching her intently, but more relaxed than before, seemingly confident in herself. 

With these people being so serious and well organized, Nabiki wondered how well the rest of the people from Nerima would deal with this. More than likely it would hinge on whether Ranma suddenly got his memories back like that time Shampoo had shampooed Akane. If Ranma didn't spontaneously get his memory back, then he would probably defend his new 'family' here. If that happened, it would be fairly disastrous. 

Ranma apparently didn't plan on making her wait long, because he came back in after not to long, dressed rather nicely. The black silk Chinese cut pants tied at the ankle and waist was fairly normal, along with the grey-blue Chinese silk shirt with mahogany ties up the middle. Unlike the silk clothes he used to wear, these were new and had a bright sheen to the silk, compared to the worn silk of the clothes that Kasumi had carefully mended for him. 

A pale yellow sash adorned his waist, complimenting a golden medallion that hung from his neck on a steel chain. His hair was in a loose ponytail, brushing along the back of his shirt. His sleeves here rolled up to near his elbows, showing off the metallic bracers that looked like liquid mercury coating his forearms. Reflected light flowed across it like water, making the bracers somewhat hard to look at. 

Seeing Nabiki staring at him so intently, Ranma spread his arms out and slowly turned around for her, then stopped with a little grin, giving Nabiki an amused look. 

Nabiki couldn't help but giggle at the way Ranma was acting. The carefree confidence made him a lot more desirable. It certainly made him a lot more pleasant to be with as opposed to his blustery personality that she was used to. 

Ranma cocked his head to one side while grinning at Nabiki, as she seemed to be a bit lost in thought, "Well, shall we go?" 

Nabiki gave a short chuckle and grinned at the relaxed young man, "Sure Saotome." 

Ranma went over to the entranceway and grabbed the long well made umbrella that could serve as a walking stick and opened the doorway, giving an exaggerated gentlemanly bow to Nabiki in good humor, "After you then my lady. Let us be off." 

Nabiki continued her amused grin, and gave a melodramatic swoon as she passed Ranma, "Oh my, you're such a charming gentleman." Inwardly Nabiki wondered how Ranma could be acting or talking so well. She knew he could act, and do so as a second nature, as his blustery martial artist front was just that, an act. It used to be easy to tell though he newfound easy going confidence might be making the difference. 

Ranma twirled his umbrella around, not needing to open it since there were only a few clouds in the sky and no sign of rain. 

Nabiki was almost surprised that he didn't take her arm and continue the gentleman bit, but apparently from the quick sidelong look he gave her, he figured that she was to independent of a woman for that. Due to her business dealings she did have a cultivated independent streak, but Nabiki wasn't so jaded yet that she couldn't enjoy a bit of girlish romance such as hanging possessively on a handsome young man's arm. The curious thing was how difficult it would be to get Ranma to do that now. 

Watching his body language discreetly, Nabiki reached over to Ranma and grasped his arm, holding it in the affectionate and possessive manner that some girls apply. She was gratified in reading his new personality correctly when he kept his happy disposition and bent his arm a bit so she could hold onto it easier. 

Nabiki glanced over slyly at Ranma, wondering if she would be able to be his fiancée then and handle his other fiancées from a more solid position. As nice as that might be, it was probably to risky, since her old ways of dealing with Ranma probably wouldn't work. As it was though, she had a decided head start advantage already. 

Of course, part of her current content came from her current position. Ranma had always been something of a catch, especially compared to the male population of Nerima. He had always been blustery and confident most of the time, and did his best to hide his caring nature though it didn't help much as most anybody could take advantage of him. Being such an easy mark had been disappointing to Nabiki. 

Now though, he was apparently calm, collected and passably intelligent. His biggest disadvantages were apparently gone now, and his boyish charm was polished with a self-assured confidence that made him more like a properly raised prince than a boy who had grown up on the road with Genma. Nabiki had to be suspicious of this radical change however, certainly the apparent change in intelligence. 

Nabiki was brought out of her musing as Ranma led her into a restaurant. It was one of the nicer places to eat found near colleges for students who could afford a good meal and wanted a variety of quality food to choose from at reasonable prices. Seating was quickly arranged at a table for four, and the waitress took their drink orders, tea for Ranma and a latte for Nabiki, who preferred the rich foreign drinks. 

Ranma gave the menu a quick glance, having eaten here before and knowing what he liked, before turning a grin to Nabiki, "Know what you'll be having?" 

Nabiki gave the boy a grin before saying, "Your treat, right?" She was glad Ranma chose this restaurant. It was nice but relaxed, meaning that she wasn't out of place in her tight jeans, pale pink tight t-shirt and blue jean jacket. 

Ranma smiled back, trying to fit this girl in with what he knew of her. From what he knew, she tended to have other people pay for her, and generally ran a small hobby of side bets and information for pocket change. She was being more pleasant than what his limited memories told him she would, so he decided to continue feeling her out pleasantly. "Of course, unless you insist of course. I mean an independent business woman such as yourself must have quite a bit of pride, and I wouldn't want to offend you by presuming." 

Nabiki almost blanched, but managed to restrain it at his comment. She knew he had changed, but she wasn't expecting a mental challenge, especially of this magnitude. The comment at the end there had been unnecessary, but delivered honestly enough that she couldn't directly contest it. Still though, she did have experience in dealing with people, and rolled with the mental blow to her pride by continuing the role of a girl with romantic dreams. "Why that may be so, but that doesn't mean I can't relax and enjoy myself like any other girl. Can't I enjoy a simple date?" 

The silk clad young man withdrew a bit, not liking the tone she took. Apparently, he went a bit far and put her on guard, ruining her enjoyment of the evening. He just wanted to know what the real Nabiki was like, and didn't want to ruin the evening. Ranma gave her an apologetic smile, "Sorry, I guess my memories of you are worse than I thought. I didn't mean to upset you, I was just curious about you." 

Nabiki looked a bit surprised and concerned. The idea of Ranma apologizing like that was still a surprising thing, and he seemed to be genuinely disappointed. Nabiki decided that wouldn't do if she was trying to get Ranma to like her. While his 'captors' were important, it was obvious to her that Ranma was key to this situation. Nabiki gave the young man her best comforting smile, "That's alright Ranma. I don't think I gave you too many good memories of me." 

Ranma nodded, relaxed and smiling again, "I guess that's a shame then." 

Before Nabiki could consider that comment further, the waitress arrived, ready to take their order. 

Ranma happily nodded at the girl, with the thought of delicious food on his mind. "Sure, I'll have the shrimp platter, Chilean sea bass, and the grilled sirloin. Mhmm. . and a bowl of chicken ramen to start off with too." 

The waitress blinked at Ranma for a bit and felt the need to clarify, "Sir, those are three full dinners." 

Ranma nodded without losing a beat, "Good, cause I have a healthy appetite." He then gave the girl a wink, eliciting a blush from her, though it didn't seem he was intentionally flirting as he turned back to Nabiki. 

The waitress noticed Nabiki as well and did her best to ignore her own blush as she took Nabiki's order, "And for you miss?" 

Nabiki was annoyed with herself, as she had been so tied up with Ranma that she hadn't decided on what she wanted yet. Seeing her hesitation, Ranma offered his suggestion, "How about the sweet onion chicken salad? It's light but tasty." 

Nabiki read the entry for that and checked the picture out. It was a cold salad with chicken cooked in a sweet onion sauce spread liberally over it. Nabiki decided that would be good, and nodded her thanks to Ranma, while addressing the waitress, "Sure, that sounds good." 

The waitress gave a nod, and turned to leave after checking on their drinks. 

Nabiki propped her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her hands while staring at Ranma. She decided to go for some light conversation and asked, "Where did you get the medallion and bracers?" It might actually be important to know. For all she knew with Ranma, they were mind controlling jewelry or had weird magical powers. 

Ranma looked down contemplatively and fingered his golden medallion as if seeing it for the first time, "Well, this is a gift from Maria for saving her life. She takes that way to seriously." Ranma looked a bit bashful at that, embarrassed with how deeply emotional about that Maria was. Recovering from the memories involved, he put his right forearm across the table so Nabiki could examine the bracer on that arm. After giving her a few seconds to try to follow the reflections in it, he explained, "It's made of three different materials. Most of it is silver, which is the kinda bluish metallic part. The really white silvery part is platinum, and the dark grey metallic stuff is actually a stone called hematite. It's supposed to look like waves of a stormy ocean." Ranma paused and gave a happy sound as the memory came to him, "Sakura says they match my eyes that way." 

Nabiki paused in examining the bracer, since now she could tell where one reflective material met with another to form flowing curved lines. Looking up at Ranma, her face crinkled contemplatively, "So who is this Sakura? I didn't see her today." 

Before Ranma could formulate a reply, a girl in her early twenties with short black hair approached the table, greeting Ranma happily, "Hey Ranma, what are you out doing tonight?" 

Ranma turned to look at the girl, apparently recognizing her, "Oh, just taking out an old friend. Nabiki is interested in the college here I think." 

Seeing the slight frown Nabiki was developing caused the new girl to smile, before bowing to Nabiki and introducing herself, "I'm Neshito Yukima, secretary of the Stargazer club here. Ranma here is responsible for getting us a lot of new members after he joined our Astronomy class." Grinning suggestively she turned to Ranma, "You sure she isn't an old girlfriend? Are you trying to hide something?" 

The young man wasn't to fazed by her teasing accusation, and responded with light surprise, "Huh? No, I don't think me and Nabiki ever dated or anything." 

Yukima looked between the couple, noting that Nabiki still looked unhappy, which she had assumed was because she was interrupting a date, while Ranma was his normal innocently honest self. Not liking the feel of the situation, she decided to leave quietly, "Oh, well I'll see you Friday in class, alright?" 

Ranma blinked and nodded while waving to her a little bit off balance, "uh later then." Turning back to Nabiki, he saw she seemed to have a neutral somewhat stony expression, and tried to recall what they had been talking about. A bit unsure he ventured, "You wanted to know about Sakura, right?" 

Nabiki's expression softened some, letting him know he had it right, and she was apparently upset about having their conversation interrupted. Seeing that she was waiting, Ranma decided to start at the beginning, "Well, she was the one that brought me out of the Neko-ken the first time. She basically took care of me and taught me about honor and chivalry. Eventually she gave me back to my father, since I wanted to continue my training, even after what he did to me. We met again when I was thirteen, and she really wanted to take me away from Genma then. I wanted to wait until I had finished my training journey though, and she respected that. So we agreed to wait until I was eighteen, and here we are." 

Nabiki raised a somewhat incredulous eyebrow at that story. Not so much that it sounded untrue, but because it left so much out, though that was apparently because there was a lot tell. Nabiki decided to start with the most glaring bit, "So, a woman you never mentioned or had any contact with for five years just shows up one night, and you drop everything and leave, abandoning your old life?" 

Ranma gave a frustrated grunt and frowned in thought. That was a difficult question. After a moment he came up with an answer that was partially satisfying to himself at least, "Well, my old life was. . . well, really not my life. The only thing that might have held me were the arranged marriages, and those were just arrangements. I gave them a try, and they didn't work out." After a moment he paused and looked out the window at the darkening sky, "I know I would face it eventually, but I wanted a little break from it for a while at least to find myself again. Do you think any of them would let me be me?" 

Nabiki gave a confident smirk, now knowing she was getting the information she needed, "So who is the real you? It's awful convenient of you to have memory problems and a sudden personality change. Pretty much everyone back home is going to assume it's mind control or a spell, and they're going to look for a target, probably this Sakura of yours." 

Ranma seriously frowned at that, disturbed at the thought of the craziness from Nerima going after Sakura, or anyone in his new life really. Weighing his options, he decided to be honest since he didn't really plan on keeping the truth away anyways. Being heard out completely now would probably be for the best. Hesitantly he began, wanting to get the words just right. "Sakura wouldn't deny it. She still probably feels guilty about it, even though it's what I wanted. She didn't just cure the nekoken, she took all of the bad memories and pain I had, then gave it back to me. Except instead of holding me down, they're just like someone is telling me about them." 

Ranma paused for a moment to see Nabiki's reaction, and noted she seemed to be very intent on his tale, but no outward judgment of it. Nodding to himself, he gathered himself and continued, "Sakura has an ideal, something I've wanted and believed in since she held me when I was six. The heart of a samurai warrior, with the chivalry of a European knight. A modern day prince who saves his princess like a fairy tale. Probably sounds pretty weird hearing me say that, huh?" 

Nabiki looked at him contemplatively for a moment, before thoughtfully responding, "It makes some sense knowing you, though I can't say you acted very 'princely'. As a matter of fact, you were more of a prince destroyer if you remember." 

Ranma smirked at that while letting out a brief chuckle, "Yeah, I remember them and all the trouble they caused. Hopefully they learned their lessons. You're right though, I wasn't acting like I wanted to be. You see, I've spent maybe an entire month in my life so far with Sakura, while about eighteen years under Genma's thumb. If you know Genma, you know how opposed he is to good honorable behavior like that. Sadly, he beat a lot of it out of me. I tried my best you know, but I just didn't know what to do." 

Nabiki gazed at Ranma contemplatively and gave him an encouraging nod. That actually made a surprising amount of sense in describing Ranma's behavior. While it was still possible that something more subversive was going on, she didn't have any evidence. Ranma had admitted to somehow having his memories tampered with, but his explanation for it was solid and agreed with his behavior beforehand. Curious she decided to test him a bit more, while giving him an encouraging smile to set him at ease, "So, Akane was your princess?" 

Ranma blinked in surprise at her, digesting that question for a moment. Eventually he gave Nabiki a wry grin and set his hands on the table, "Akane is a princess, but she wasn't my princess." 

Nabiki raised both eyebrows on that one, having her curiosity peaked, "What do you mean by that Ranma?"

Ranma frowned and starting fiddling with his silverware package which was wrapped in a napkin, twirling it around in his hands as he thought, "Well, I thought she was at the beginning, because of the fiancée thing. I sort of looked at it as my duty even if we didn't get along to well. I was confused about the what exactly I was supposed to do as a fiancé, but I tried my best. Eventually though stuff happened, other fiancées arrived and things got complicated. I still don't know what to really make of it all." 

Ranma paused and looked Nabiki in the eyes for emphasis, "The difference between a Princess and just protecting someone, is she makes it all worthwhile." Ranma looked down and heaved a heartfelt sigh, "No matter what I did though, Akane never seemed to respect or admire me. Sometimes I thought she did, but she would get upset and deny it. Even though she didn't like him, she treated Kuno better than me, not to mention Ryouga and practically every other guy she met." 

The middle Tendou girl frowned thoughtfully at his assessment of Akane. It was a bit more negative than she would have expected, though she couldn't fault him too much. His voice was filled with regret, not resentment. She didn't know if the regret was due to his assessment of his relationship with Akane, or over his own actions then. Probably both. Nabiki decided to clarify that, "Aren't you being a little harsh about Akane there?" 

Ranma made a noncommittal sound and looked out the windows again, "I know she's a nice girl. Sometimes she really was nice to me, but usually not. There was just something . . _wrong_ between us. It actually hurt more to know how nice she could be. I know I wasn't acting right then either, so it's not all her fault, but after she found out I was a boy, it seems like she held everything that happened against me." 

After staring out at the sky for a moment Ranma gave a grunt, he turned to Nabiki with a small forced smile, "Enough of that, alright? We're supposed to be enjoying ourselves, right?" 

Nabiki allowed herself a somewhat cheery grin, since she had a fair amount of information, and it wouldn't do to ruin Ranma's goodwill yet. "Sure Ranma, sorry for bringing up painful memories." Nabiki internally winced as she realized what she said. Apparently though his 'past' which was everything before two weeks ago was a painful thing to him, which would certainly make getting him back from here a difficult thing. 

A somewhat awkward silence descended over the table, to be broken up after a few minutes by the waitress bringing out their food with the help of another waitress to carry it all. After placing it all down, their waitress gave an apologetic bow before apologizing, "I'm sorry I didn't get your ramen out before, I got tied up for a while. Please accept my apologies." 

Ranma dismissed it with a grin and short bark of laughter, waving the apology away, "That's alright, we were caught up talking anyways. Don't worry about it, okay?" He then clapped his hands and looked over the three hot entrees before him and his bowl of noodles before exclaiming for the waitress's benefit, "Ah, it looks and smells wonderful!" Then he tried his shrimp and some of the rice pilaf, eating with the gusto of a normal person as opposed to a human vacuum cleaner assaulting the table. 

After asking briefly if there was anything else they needed and receiving a negative reply, the waitress left with a small sense of relief. 

Accepting his offer to try the variety of shrimp on a bed of rice pilaf on one of his plates of food, Nabiki gave him a wry grin before teasing him, "All of these new manners and smarts, and you pass up an opportunity to get the price of your meal reduced. If you had suddenly developed a sense for money, I'd be seriously worried." Internally she thought that was because Ranma was suddenly worth a lot more money, which made his business sense or lack thereof a lot more important now. This meal alone was costing a pretty penny that even Kuno would balk at treating her too, even though Ranma was eating most of it. 

The grin Ranma gave her though unsettled her more than she cared for. Apparently finding Nabiki's attitude amusing, he decided to elaborate and explain his humor. "Well, first of all, Suichiko is doing a good job as a waitress, and that would hurt her wages, which she probably needs a lot more than me. Also she was tied up by that woman over there," Ranma nodded his head slightly to his right, "so she really didn't have a choice." 

Nabiki glanced back over at the woman, whom she had noticed arguing with their waitress. The woman had kept her voice down, but the chewing out the waitress got over what was probably some perceived wrong was easy to see. Except Ranma had been looking her way the entire time and paying attention to their conversation, while the woman was behind him and to his right past several other tables. She had never noticed his attention wavering, and she couldn't figure out any way for him to have noticed except somehow hearing it over the murmur in the restaurant. As she paused in delightfully poaching another shrimp off of Ranma's plate, she decided to bite the bullet and ask, "Alright Ranma, how did you know that?" 

Ranma shrugged lightly, cutting off and eating a piece of his steak, "I can see her in the reflection in the windows behind you, along with everyone else here. Also her voice is a bit grating, very whiny." 

Nabiki blinked and accepted that, being glad for the small pleasure that it wasn't some supernatural martial arts ability that he had developed, before realizing just how observetive that marked him. Giving him a strained grin, she tried teasing him to relieve some of her sudden stress, "Well, you're still missing an opportunity to save money there." 

Ranma gave a dismissive shrug, showing how little that bothered him, "I think the food and service here is good for the money. Besides, that's why I'm getting a Business degree." 

Nabiki's eyes crossed for a few seconds before she managed to swallow the piece of chicken she almost choked on. Feeling seriously weirded out as her own personal world cracked slightly, "Business? You?!" she exclaimed, a bit louder than she liked. 

The silk clad young man leaned back slightly, doing his best to not let her outburst faze him, before cautiously replying, "Well, yes. My Economics class was very tough to start out with, but Kizachi and Humeki have helped me catch up. Gives me a bit of admiration for how you handle money so well." 

Narrowing her eyes, a bit of accusation crept into her voice, "Alright, now how did you get into college when you're a grade behind me and not done with high school?" Before it hadn't bothered her, but him getting a business degree just struck her wrong. 

The young martial artist rolled his shoulders in a shrug while taking a bite of the sea bass, "Well, I have a special observer like status where the classes are considered tutoring. After I'm caught up with high school and then some, I take the test to prove it, and I then have some credits already under my belt, making up for lost time." 

Wide eyed and actually a bit impressed with it, the stunned girl muttered out, "Making up for lost time?" 

Ranma just hummed slightly, a pleasant pleased note, before starting on the shrimp, "Well, Sakura wants me to be heir, so I need to learn to handle that stuff. After I get the degree, I'll be able to learn hands on, which I really prefer ya know." 

Nabiki numbly nodded, before picking through her salad and eating slowly. This was disturbing her a lot more than she was comfortable with feeling. 

Seeing his dinner companion was seemingly depressed, Ranma attempted a cheerier smile, "Hey, how about desert? They have some nice ice cream dishes here." He was fairly sure of knowing that Nabiki had a sweet tooth. 

The brown haired girl didn't really react, aimlessly poking her plate with her fork, before mumbling, "Sorry, I'm not really hungry." 

Seeing that she was fairly depressed, Ranma nodded to her even though she couldn't see it and signaled his waitress down for the check. When she came back with it and Nabiki hadn't changed, he handed the waitress enough for his bill and a hefty tip and helped Nabiki up and outside. 

Seeing that it was raining lightly, he opened his umbrella and put an arm around Nabiki to comfort her and keep her under the umbrella so she would stay dry. "You want to go home now?" he asked with a concerned warmth in his voice. 

Nabiki looked up at him with an unreadable look, seeming to search something out in his face. "No that's alright. My return ticker isn't until ten PM anyways. Sorry for getting bummed out like that." 

Ranma chuckled and gave her a reassuring confident grin, "Ah, it's alright. I'll pay for your ticket, so you can go back now." 

"Trying to get rid of me already Saotome?" asked Nabiki, grinning slightly as she tried to put her bad mood behind her. 

Shaking his head lightly in good humor, Ranma looked out at the gray sky and city, "It's probably for the best." 

Looking at her companion for a moment, Nabiki nodded her acknowledgement. Nodding to her as well, Ranma escorted her to the train station, stepping fully under the roof before shaking off the excess water and closing his umbrella. Approaching the counter he waited as Nabiki requested her ticket then paid for it. 

With that done, they went and found a bench to sat on, quietly waiting for the train. Eventually Nabiki looked over at her escort, seemingly searching for something in him again. After a contemplative moment, she told him, "Thank you." 

Ranma in turn gave her a warm smile, before replying, "You're welcome, it was my pleasure." 

Shaking her head ruefully, Nabiki glanced over at him, smiling regretfully at the handsome young man beside her. "It was nice, but I don't deserve a prince." Hurriedly she got up and walked over to the loading platform before it could get awkward between them. 

Ranma watched her go with a sense of sadness, though he only allowed it to show in his eyes. Standing up to go, he watched her a moment before turning to go. As he approached the edge of the roof, he snapped open his umbrella and murmured, "That just means you need one more than most." Shaking his head to clear it of regret, he looked out at the gray sky before starting on the long walk back to the manor. 

* * *

Nabiki watched him walk away out into the rain with a measure of honest confusion. She wasn't used to being so emotionally effected by anyone. Idly she wondered if she should snoop around and try to find anything else out sine she still had her later train ticket, but decided against it. More than likely, it would just be a waste of time and get her a cold for her troubles. 

While waiting for her train, she considered what she had found out. While the situation was fishy, Ranma was apparently happy and well off now. It was certainly a good thing she decided to go alone, as the others probably would have just jumped into things and started trouble here. She was fairly well informed, but what was she going to do with that information? Until someone attacked Ranma and she saw how he responded, getting on his bad side could be a very bad thing, especially since being on his good side could help her future career. 

Still though, the people in Nerima would eventually find him, as he wasn't trying very hard to not be found. The best she could do really was go ahead and inform them for a fee and run a little damage control until she had a better handle on the situation here. Kasumi accepting Ranma's offer and moving here for college would be a positive thing, unless somehow Ranma was brought back or made a family enemy before then. Masking plans was pretty useless with that group, the best she could do was handle them as it unfolded and hope for the best. 

However unlikely that was with this group. 

* * *

After walking a ways away form the train station to a darkened patch of bushes and grass, Ranma stopped by one of the trees and waited. Eventually Ayumi walked out into the dim light and accepted his silent offer of sharing his umbrella. He gave the soaked ninja girl a look over before slowly continuing his walk home, not happy that she was out in the rain on his behalf. He knew from experience though that trying to talk her out of her duty as his personal ninja and bodyguard lost cause, so he instead decided to engage her observation skills so she would feel more useful. "Well Ayumi, what do you think of her?" 

The busty girl in the short Kimono glanced sideways at her young master, contemplating his request. Once she had a suitable reply, she gave it, "I think you handled her well. She might treat you differently this time, since I think you earned a some respect from her tonight." As she walked unminding of being cold and soaked, she continued her review of what she saw. "I think you surprised her a lot too. That may threaten her, which would cause her to treat you poorly, or treat you better in the future. I think she was pleasantly surprised though." 

Ranma nodded to her absently, not really caring that much for speculation of what Nabiki might do, since she would simply do whatever she does. He was really interested in hearing the ninja girl's point of view so he could compare it to his observations. Taking it in he nodded thoughtfully, before concluding that he had observed her well enough. Thinking of other things, he glanced over at the green haired girl beside him, "When we get back, you're taking a warm bath, okay?" 

Ayumi looked up at her young master, frowning internally. He was kind to a fault. He should just accept her service and make use of her, instead of worrying over her like this. It was hard to hold it against him though, especially since it was one of the qualities Mistress Sakura adored him for. She would just have to protect him from others that much more. It was worth it though, as it was more rewarding to personally serve him. Grinning lightly she looked up and sideways at his face, letting him see her playful grin, "Only if you wash my back for me." Seeing him sigh in acceptance, she grinned a bit wider, as teasing him this way was so much fun. The poor boy still had problems with nude women, and having him help wash her back and other parts and then soak with her was a delightful way to tease him and get him over that little problem. She wholeheartedly looked forward to the day when she would teach him so much more. 

Ranma gave the busty girl next to him an odd look, successfully hiding his nervousness at her grinning and giggling after he had resigned himself to 'bathing' with her again. He trusted her not to push things to far with him, because so far she had restrained herself, but sometimes she just unnerved him. 

* * *

Later that night, the rain clouds had cleared out, leaving the sky partly cloudy, with a hazy crescent moon glowing through the last of the clouds. On a blanket a top the roof lay Ranma, with Maria cuddled to his right side while Ayumi laid to his left. In the quiet times before he had to go to bed, he liked to come up here and watch the stars. 

On Thursday nights, the Stargazer club from Astronomy class would come over again, watching stars and chatting with each other quietly until late in the night, watching for meteors that crossed the sky several times a night. After they got tired and some of the girls fell asleep, Ranma would start bringing them in and some would just sleep over for the night, instead of heading home so late in the night. 

That was enjoyable in it's own way, but tonight Ranma was happy to share it with just two girls. It was a lot more personal and comfortable that way, and both of these girls enjoyed watching the stars, making it even better. 

Hearing someone call his name, Ranma sat up, recognizing Sakura's voice. He glanced down and down her, seeing her with a surprised looking girl with long pink hair. Sakura was dressed as usual in a long kimono that was as elegant as it was simple, gazing up at him fondly. Though her face and posture was as poised as usual, he could see the affection in her eyes. Hopping down he smiled at her before looking over at her guest. 

The pink haired girl was wearing blue shorts and an orange t-shirt, while her left ankle was in a cast and brace. Currently she was standing with the aid of her crutches, and was staring at him in apparent awe in her blue eyes. 

The pony tailed young man nodded politely at the girl, introducing herself, "Hi, I'm Ranma Saotome." He stared at her for a few seconds as she continued to stare almost raptly in return, apparently having not heard him. 

Sakura shook her head, faintly smiling in amusement before touching the girl's arm and speaking to her, "Utena, this is Ranma. I intended for him to be your prince." 

Utena's blush deepened, before suddenly looking down in shame, unable to look at him anymore. 

Frowning in concern, Ranma stepped forward, touching her elbows to get her attention in a light caress without being to familiar. Seeing her shyly look up at him, he extended his senses, reaching out to her with what Sakura called his empathic abilities. He felt shame from her, a failure in something important to her, and how little confidence she had in herself. He felt the lack of confidence directed at himself now, probably meaning she didn't think she was worthy of having a 'prince'. Softly, with as much concern as he could muster he asked her, "What's wrong Utena?" 

Instead of responding she looked down again, her shame eating at her and keeping her from speaking. Worried about her and not knowing how to find out what was wrong, he turned to Sakura with a questioning look. 

The stately woman smiled kindly at him and Utena, before supplying the information he wanted, "I met her when she was a young girl, and intended for her to be your princess. She took it upon herself though to become a prince, since she felt the world lacking in heroes. Eventually she found a princess in need of rescuing, but failed in her attempt a few days ago at freeing her." 

Seeing that Sakura had said all she was likely going to say for now, the young man examined the despondent girl again, trying to feel out what she needed. He could see her need to curl up in his lap and be protected form the world, but he also saw something else within her. Steadying her with one hand, he gathered her crutches and handed them to Sakura, who took them gracefully without complaint. With the unwieldy sticks out of the way he gathered the pink haired girl in his arms to comfort her, resting his chin on top of her head. Feeling her relax and lose her sense of personal sadness, he then picked her up by cradling her in his arms, smiling at her as she gasped in surprise and growing delight. Softly he asked, "Would you like to watch the stars with me for a while before bed?" 

Receiving a hesitant nod, he gave her another of what he hoped to be a comforting smile and hopped softly back up to his spot on the roof. The girl in his arms stared at him in amazement, as the transition from ground to roof had been so smooth that she hadn't been surprised or scared by it. Just as carefully he sat down, with her sideways in his lap holding onto his neck still. 

Reaching into what he felt to be his empathic powers, he tried to keep her in this mood so his questions wouldn't ruin it. Gently he asked, "Can you tell me about the princess you want to rescue?" 

Utena contentedly nuzzled against his clavicle, eyes unfocusing as she recalled Anthy, "She's very quiet, but I haven't met her much. She's the prize in a secretive tournament at my new school. They call her the Rose Bride, and she 'belongs' to whoever the current champion is and has to do whatever he wants. If you want her, you just have to challenge and defeat the current champion. She's so quiet, but to me she looks sad." 

Ranma smiled down at her, genuine affection warming his smile further now. He definitely liked her heart. It was good and pure, and had potential to be very strong, explaining what Sakura had seen in her years ago. "What about the fight?" he carefully asked. 

Utena's pleasant mood dropped slightly before Ranma regained control, but she was still relaxed contentedly. Quietly she continued, "You can only compete by invitation of having a signet ring. It's a sword fight where you destroy a rose on the opponent's lapel. I brought a bamboo practice sword to the challenge since I had nothing else, and his katana cut through it easily. I twisted my ankle badly stumbling back, and that was it." 

Haloed by the gentle blue glow of the moon, Ranma smiled down at the pink haired girl in his arms. He knew what he wanted to do for her now. Giving her his best encouraging smile, he stated, "Well then, until you get better, I'll take care of you my princess. Then I'll teach you how to fight, so you can go save her." 

Utena stared up at him with wide bright blue eyes, speechless and overcome with emotion. She had taken Sakura's wonderful tale about her being a princess with a prince out there for her to heart, but had been disappointed as the years passed and she met no princes. She had absolved then to be a prince herself, more to depend on herself than really thinking of saving a princess herself. 

Now after her failure and being brought 'home' in defeat, she was in her prince's arms. Staring up at his, she couldn't help but notice all of his qualities. He was handsome, ethereally so in the moonlight. He was strong and apparently very skilled if his casual inhuman jumps were any indication, not to mention the feel of his arms. He was treating her with more concern and kindness than she felt she deserved, but not only that, he believed in her, his voice exuding his confidence in her, just as it assured her of his words and intentions. Compared to the mental ideal she had of a prince, he completely blew it away, showing it to be a shallow weak idea compared to his presence. 

Maybe most mind blowing of all was that he wouldn't hold her to being a princess, which was a role she would likely be happy to fulfill. He seemed to understand how much saving Anthy and proving herself meant to her, maybe even more so than she had understood it. Treating her this kindly, then letting her continue on with her life, when she would happily stay as a bird in a gilded cage for him, simply showed to much integrity for her to comprehend fully at this moment. 

Incapable of expressing her feeling in voice or sound, or even in motion, she melted against him, feeling incapable of anything else. 

She couldn't tell, but he didn't hold her to long before she started to drift asleep in the most comfort she had felt in a long time. Seeing she was drifting off, Ranma stood up and carefully took her into the house. Quietly getting Sakura's attention with his eyes, she understood his request and led the way to his room, and opened the door for him. Ranma stopped at the doorway for a moment to stare at Sakura, though after a moment of thought he understood. Nodding his assent to Sakura, he entered his room with a light sigh. Apparently she wanted him to take personal care of Utena, and he trusted her judgment on this. 

Carefully sitting on the edge of his bed, he pulled back the covers to carefully lay Utena on his bed. When the half asleep girl refused to let go of him, he understood Sakura's silent request. Staring at the pink haired girl latched on his arm, he contemplated her street clothes. He knew girls didn't like to sleep in their clothes, especially bras, but he also knew he'd have to try pretty hard to wake her up enough for her to dress herself. He also knew he wouldn't be getting any help on this, unless he really objected, since Sakura wanted him more comfortable with girls in situations like this. 

Sighing quietly to himself and hoping she wouldn't hate him for this, he decided to go through with it. Quietly he asked her, "I'm going to help you get ready for bed, alright? Just tell me if you're uncomfortable." 

Looking into her eyes for an answer, he saw no change in the dreamy half asleep stare she was giving him. He thought she might have actually gotten happier at that, but that made no sense, so he dismissed it. 

Slowly he unbuttoned her shorts, and slowly pulled them off of her, taking special care of her ankle, while taking note for any reactions that would indicate he should stop. Considering her top, he knew the bra would have to go for her to sleep comfortably, which also meant removing her shirt. Thinking for a bit, he decided she could wear his silk Chinese shirt to sleep in, which meant he wouldn't have to leave her to fetch something, since she seemed latched onto his presence at the moment. 

First, he took off his own blue silk shirt, leaving him in his black muscle shirt. Setting that aside for later, he gathered her up in his arms again so she would be sitting partially upright. He noted she seemed a lot more comforted when he did, giving him some reassurance that he was doing the right thing. He started removing her shirt by rolling it up her chest, doing his best to not disturb her to much. When he went to pull it over her head, she cooperated woodenly, like a damaged marionette, her arms going loosely around his waist once the shirt was off. 

Firmly grabbing the clasp of her bra with both hands, he separated it, then slid the straps off of her arms, having a little difficulty getting her to cooperate by letting go off him so he could pull it fully off. 

Letting out a small sigh of relief at the hard and dangerous part being over, he reached over and grabbed his shirt without disturbing her. When he tried to pull her arms from his waist to dress her in the shirt, she tightened her grip while burying her face in his shoulder. He was getting a strange feeling of desperation from her. After a moment of staring at her and trying to figure her out, he noticed she was getting cold in only her panties. 

Giving a sigh of regret as he had a sinking feeling that he would pay for this in the morning, he tossed the shirt to the floor with the rest of her clothes. Then he piled the pillows up before laying back on them, pulling Utena along so she would lay halfway on his chest. With his shoulders and head partially propped up, he shouldn't turn any during the night, so he hopefully wouldn't hurt her ankle any by tossing and turning in his sleep. 

As he pulled the covers over their bodies, the slim girl in his arms pulled herself tighter against him, proving his instincts right. She seemed to be fully into a contented sleep now, with her long straight pink hair partially fanning out from under the covers. The peaceful look on her face made the violence he expected in the morning as a result worth it, though he couldn't understand some of the feelings that had come from her recently. 

He did pause to admire the rest of her beauty, as Sakura had tried so hard to teach him. He didn't feel the guilt or shame that used to creep up uncontrollably, though he did expect her to be angry with him in the morning for touching her and seeing her, no matter the circumstance. 

She certainly did have a natural beauty to her though. Her skin was very lightly tanned and smooth, while her body was slim and well toned. Probably the most important aspect of her body right now to him though was the way she was holding him and being held. It filled him with a sense of contentment to have her happy and in his arms like this. 

Calmly he stroked her long hair, causing it to fall in a waterfall of silky pink across the bed. Contentedly he watched a smile grow on her lips. It was a precious moment he would treasure. Smiling at the angelic beauty who was trusting him so much right now, he whispered a promise to her, that was more to himself. 

"I'll always be here for you." 

In her dreamless state, where her admiration of him for treating her kindly as his princess while preparing to let her go to her own princess floated among other wonderful feelings, she noted the resigned sense of loss in his promise. She already felt he would be there for her whenever she needed him, and it only firmed her belief in him. 

* * *

Well that's the end of this piece.

Utena is from Revolutionary Girl Utena, though obviously from slightly altered circumstances. Sakura inspired by Sakura from Masquerade and Tomoe from Rurouni Kenshin OAV Trust&Betrayal. Maria Belmont inspired by Maria from Castlevania, Symphony of the Night. Ayumi is inspired by Ayane from Dead or Alive, and Yaku from La Blue Girl Returns and Lady Blue. College girls are original characters.

If Ranma seems more intelligent than possible in two weeks, it is due to the change in environment. His prior schools have been horrible, while at the college he has private tutors and good professors. Also a complete change in attitude will account for a lot. As an Education Major, I sort of know this stuff. As for the personality change, it's mostly because he's still learning how to properly behave, so that means he is attentive to people. Attentiveness can account for a lot, besides him being an adaptable and quick learner.

+50 points for getting this far. +7 points for realizing there were no flying monkeys. +13 points for realizing there was no violence in this chapter. +30 points to the author for hand formatting this into HTML(gah, over 250 paragraphs, that's a lot of paragraph tags alone. HTML generators are horribly messy.)

Version 1.01 A few words changed in the final scene. Also I finished this picture for the story, which is medium quality for a quick painting.

ValorPhoenix, March 2003, Valorphoenix@yahoo.com  



	2. Chapter 2 Wonderful Dreams

Dreams of Sakura: Chapter 2

Author's Notes: A bit shorter than I expected, as I cut some scenes as I deemed them unnecessary. This chapter successfully finishes a lot of the set-up for the first major conflict. Bon Appetite! 

* * *

Quietly opening the door, Sakura gazed inside at the starlit couple laying in the bed. The pose was picturesque, even though that wasn't the intent, with the pinked haired girl perched on the young black haired man's chest as he reclined on the bed on his back.

A decade ago when they were little kids she had known they would be a perfect couple. She hadn't had the courage to take them and raise them herself though. Instead she had left them in what she knew were bad situations, but had held hope that that would improve and she could help them later on in life.

Turning to her quiet companion, the kimono clad woman murmured, "I should have been there for them. They would have had each other, and they would have grown up happy."

The slim European woman glanced sidelong at her mistress, her eyebrows crinkled slightly in amusement. "Perhaps, but then they wouldn't be who they are today. I don't think the pain they've suffered will be in vain at all."

Sakura kept her gaze on the couple in bed, regrets still weighing heavily upon her. "I should have been there for Ranma more. Two weeks ago he hardly believed we were real memories. If I had paid more attention to Utena as well, Ranma might have had his princess already."

Amusement spread further across Maria expression, causing her eyes to dance as she refrained from giggling at Sakura. "Except now Utena is going to save one more princess. Besides, Ranma's world is filled with princesses."

A small smile found its way to Sakura's stoic face as she considered that, "Yes, the magic is returning to his heart, and he has spread that magic to many a girl's heart in these short two weeks." By then the smile had grown into one filled with fondness.

The petite blond gazed sidelong at her long time friend and protector in this land that was sometimes hostile to foreign people. Idly she wondered if Sakura was listening to herself, or noticed she was one of those girls affected by Ranma, with the hope of love swelling in her heart.

Sakura's smile dropped for a moment, and she voiced the sad thought that caused it, "Still though, he needs _his_ princess. No matter how many girls he looks after, he needs the one that will look after his heart."

Maria stared contemplatively at her old friend, wondering if she really didn't realize such things. Perhaps she was still caught up in old memories and past regrets. Knowing what to do to make her feel better for the moment, she stepped over and put a hand on Sakura's arm, pressing her gently away from the door. "You should go to bed. I'll watch over them."

For a moment, Sakura gave her one of those unreadable looks, before nodding faintly and quietly padding away to her room. Maria shook her head sadly, though she had faith that it would work out. Silently she made her way into the room, closing the door quietly before walking over the bed. Her light weight hardly disturbing the bed at all, she sat down and ran her fingers lightly through the sleeping young man's bangs.

Admiring the sleeping young couple, she allowed herself to relax by listening to their breathing, as well as their heartbeats, taking solace in the warmth of their presence.

Ranma was precious to her, and one day Sakura might realize how important he was to herself as well.

* * *

As the morning sun started to drift in, Maria gently brushed back Ranma's bangs. Despite how well furnished his room here was, it noticeably lacked an alarm clock. Instead of some blaring technological device, he was awoken daily by Maria. Usually he awoke to Maria gazing at him while stroking his hair. Sometimes Ayumi got impatient for her morning spar and came in to 'help' wake him up. Her ways were a lot more physical, usually involving straddling his waist bare-chested and riding him like a horse. 

Despite the difference in their methods, they were giving Ranma a more pleasant experience with women when waking up. It had taken days before they had gotten over his old reactions and instincts concerning women. The first time Ayumi had woke him up and he had panicked all anew, Maria had been worried that Ayumi had thrown all their progress out the window. The busty ninja girl had handled it though, stopping her bouncing to sit still on Ranma while grinning at him until he understood nothing was wrong and calmed down. 

They had worked over specific situations, including lots of physical contact. The contact was to counteract the negative association he had with such, mainly as a response to being grabbed onto by women in public, notably the Chinese girl Shampoo. In Japanese society, hugs were very intimate physical expressions, generally considered second base after kissing. Shampoo's and many other girl's enthusiastic hugs bordered on groping, causing them to be public spectacles. 

Being raised on the road, Ranma wasn't quite aware of that, though it affected him in a more subtle way, meaning that without public affection, there was no way to observe it for him. Instead of knowing the significance of the act, he only knew it was really invading his personal space and not something he could deal with. 

Then followed the reactions to these acts, the people observing became outraged for various reasons at Ranma for practically making out with a girl in public. Most girls would become outraged, though they generally focused their ire on the offending girl, Ranma would rather not be upsetting girls. Guys were more predictable, either being outraged at him for 'molesting' the girl they lusted after, or offended at his 'womanizing' ways. 

Then there was Akane, the fiancée with whom Ranma had lived with. Akane had been a normal schoolgirl who was respected for her spunk and liveliness. Then Ranma came into her life, changing everything. Unlike the other fiancées, she led a relatively normal life and spent time with her gossiping schoolgirl friends just like any other girl, despite the times she was tangled up in Ranma's life. When Shampoo or some other girl jumped Ranma, usually in full view in public, she made her displeasure known with Ranma personally, often punting him into a neighboring park. 

Where Akane's anger went, her family followed. Her father would demand he apologize for whatever he did and then lament the joining of the families. Ranma's own father often backed the Tendou elder up, usually with detrimental words and a sudden physical attack. Kasumi to be fair, would gently reprove both of them in her own way, but Akane having more experience with her sister would ignore it most of the time while it cut into Ranma to have a sweet girl like her dismayed with him. Nabiki didn't seem to actually care about these little altercations, but added her own brand of suffering by using it to blackmail and manipulate Ranma. 

Ranma didn't have the social understanding to understand all of that, so he simply learned that most anything involving a girl was bad. Even without the bulk of his memories, he still retained that instinctual knowledge warning him of physical contact with girls. 

Maria and the other women here had worked on dissipating much of that fear of contact. Having him attend classes at the college and get private tutoring from the female students had helped as well, showing him that normal girls existed. He still had that look of wonderment mixed into his happy smile when he met those girls as he continuously realized that he could have nice relations with girls. There had been one incident of a girl being to forward with him, flustering Ranma, but his new female friends had come to his rescue before anything came of it. After hearing a little of his past, the forward girl had lost the illusion that he was just a shy younger man and had become one of his closer new friends. 

Maria hadn't been sure that Ranma was ready to deal with Utena last night all by himself, but apparently, he had handled the situation well. She was pretty sure he had an interesting story for why Utena was wearing so little, though they both seemed to be happy. Sakura probably had felt Ranma could handle it and had decided to put him on the spot like that after hearing that the people from Nerima had found him and would be showing up soon. 

Maria's hand paused for to long upon his brow, as she was lost in thought, awakening Ranma. As she realized he was staring up at her, she continued stroking his bangs back and gave him a warm smile. 

Belatedly he seemed to notice the girl in his arms, gazing down briefly at the peacefully sleeping pink haired girl as if to confirm she was actually there. After a moment, he returned his gaze to the blond sitting at his shoulder, his eyes now stormy with inner conflict. 

Maria gave him an encouraging smile, before bending over him to kiss him on the forehead. Rising up she giggled lightly at the innocent surprise in his expression before stroking her fingers through his bangs again. 

After a moment he relaxed, his eyes calming as he smiling lightly in return. Seeing that everything was alright, she gave him one final smile before removing her hand from his hair and standing up. Bowing her head to him in a silent respectful sign of parting, she quietly slipped out of the room. 

Sighing deeply as he breathed out the morning air, Ranma brought his gaze down from the ceiling to look at Utena in the soft morning light. She had apparently wiggled around a little during the night, with the covers falling down enough to expose her shoulder blades, though her hair fanned out to cover most of her exposed back. She was now lying across his chest with her chin on his shoulder, her nose brushing his now loose hair on the pillows. Her right hand was tangled in his hair, having pulled it from his ponytail sometime during the night, while her left hand rested emptily upon the mattress. 

Tracing body parts, he realized one of his hands had wandered down to rest on her rump. Feeling an urge to panic but noting intellectually that it wasn't that bad, he tried distancing himself instead to calm down. 

Looking to the side at where the light was coming in through the window, he noted from the pale golden light that it seemed to be clear out today. Looking around his room, he acquainted himself with the furnishings. Though he had been here for a little over two weeks, he hadn't paid it that much attention. 

The first thing he knew about the room was it was to richly done for his tastes. The height of his life had been a short stay in his own room at home, which had actually been as bare as the small room he had had at the Tendou's when he wasn't sleeping in the dojo. 

Now he had a huge bedroom, some twenty by eighteen feet that was larger than the Tendou's family room. The furniture wasn't fancy, just the fact that he had furniture made it too richly appointed for him to be comfortable with. It was an odd mixture of European and Japanese as well. 

The bed was a large four posted affair covered in silk sheets and half a dozen large pillows. The other furniture in the room included two night tables, a dresser, wardrobe, chest and even chairs, all of it well made from a richly stained wood. Why he had a wardrobe was beyond him, as one of the three doors away from his bedroom led to his walk in closet and dressing room. From the closet which was a few feet shy of being as large as his old room at the Tendou's, another door lead to the furo. 

The bathing room was another perplexing thing about this house's layout. It lead to two other bedrooms similar to his, which belonged to Maria, Sakura and Ayumi, with another door going to the hall. Maria didn't sleep, so she kept her clothes in Ayumi's room. Supposedly, it was his bathing room, but those two girls shared it with him on purpose. The times he had demanded privacy he had gotten it, but he had found sharing a bath with either of them to be pleasant once he gave it a chance. 

The other door in his room lead to a small room with toilet and sink for personal business, which was just another extravagance to worry about. Besides the rich reddish stained carved wood furniture, the room was decorated with traditional watercolor paintings, and a rice paper screen which separated one corner into a cozy meeting place with a small table and cushions to sit on. 

He still felt weird about making a mess around the house and having so many people serving him. The cook he understood, as she seemed to genuinely enjoy cooking. She had hand fed him until he understood that and stopped protesting being waited on hand and foot. Ayumi he could understand, as it was her given duty as a ninja to serve him. 

Sakura always seemed to sweep in and just make anything better, but didn't make an apparent physical effort. Her presence was always gentle and soft, but amazingly strong in a way he couldn't identify. The best he could describe it was she acted like an old fashioned Japanese woman, and treated him as the lord of the house since he had arrived, though he had always felt that way around her. She always held herself like a fine lady with dignity, but from the simple amount of attention he got from her, it made it obvious she was treating him like a lord. In a way she was the one most subservient to him in the house, but at the same time she was so self assured and restrained that it never disturbed him like it had with the other girls. 

Maria had been another odd case. She also held the grace of a refined lady, though in a European sense. Her expressions were at times more pronounced and sometimes just as reserved as her Lady, Sakura. In a real sense, she was his personal maid, and the girl he had the most physical contact with. The root of this treatment came more from her own desires than her Lady's orders to care for him. Years ago when he had helped her, it had apparently meant a great deal to her, and it was easy for even him to tell she adored him for it. 

On a more realistic level, Maria actually had a need to serve him in a sense. Part of the curse that had threatened her life also kept her from sleeping. She had hobbies and things to do in the dead of night, such as reading, cleaning the house, or just going for a walk. Such things become boring with time however and lose their interest. 

He had found out that he had become her new hobby. Sometimes it was keeping tabs on the people in Nerima, sometimes it was cleaning up the extra dust balls in the house. Mostly it was spending time with him, especially watching him while he slept. He had been unable to understand her desire to serve him, even though she explained it as what she enjoyed to do. She then asked him if anyone had tried to stop him from doing what he enjoyed, martial arts. That had brought to mind the girl named Akane, who he remembered had several times tried to stop him from protecting her. Seeing that he understood now, she had simply asked him if he would deny her such a simple pleasure. That was when he stopped objecting to being served by the various new people in his life. 

A warm body shifting under his hands brought his attention back to the physical realm. The slim girl in his arms stretched her body, elongating her joints and tensing muscles under his hands, before settled down and burying her nose in his hair while rubbing her cheek against his chin. She then paused as she breathed in deeply the scent of his hair and skin, before letting out a deep contented sigh of pleasure. Dreamily she murmured into his ear, "I like this dream".

Grinning slightly as a restrained chuckle escaped him, Ranma paused to consider just how asleep she probably was. Eventually he decided his question would give him the answer. "Do you have this dream often?" 

A teasing note to the question awoke some distant feeling in her being, but the softness it had been asked in matched her dreamy state, so she didn't realize she was awakening from sleep yet. Floating along in a warm cloud of comfort, she lazily considered her answer before murmuring, "This one is really nice".

Ranma gazed at her pink hair and exposed cheek with a wan smile as he contemplated his dreams. Softly he spoke his thoughts to her. "I always wondered about my princess. I didn't know enough about girls to even form a dream of her though. I just knew it would be worthwhile. After meeting you, I can say I'm not disappointed at all." 

Gasping in shock, Utena rapidly blinked the last of the sleep from her eyes as she tried to see his face from her current position. Not having a good angle, she gathered her wits enough after a few seconds to pull her hands up to her shoulders, then thrust her hands into the bed, raising herself up on her arms to peer down at the young man she was sleeping on. Seeing the young muscular Japanese man with the long unruly black hair that had been on her thoughts caused her to gasp out in surprise, "You're real?!" 

Ranma grinned up at the amazed young woman, amused at her reaction. He was however trying to stifle his first reaction, which would get him in trouble. With the same will power that had kept his hand on the forbidden area of her rump, he tried to control his foot-in-mouth affliction. This time however it was a losing battle. Grin widening a bit more as his eyes sparkled with humor, his voice took on a teasing tone, "and you're naked".

Looking down at herself, she realized this was true and blushed darkly, a warm reddish color tinting her cheeks and chest. Following the motion of her head, her hair fell off of her back to hang downwards and brush Ranma's chest. After a moment she forced her gaze back up to his face, finding it had settled into a gentle smile directed at her. The embarrassment she felt was swept away by the warmth in his eyes, and she tossed her hair to one side before laying her head on his chest. 

For a while, they lay there, Utena in silence, while Ranma was puzzling over why she had been embarrassed but made no effort to cover herself up. Eventually Utena broke the silence by quietly asking him, "You undressed me for bed right? Nothing else happened?" 

Ranma looked down at her curiously, finding her calm curious tone to be a surprise. He noted her eyes were unfocused and staring off into the room, showing that she was just lying there and relaxing. Cautiously he replied, "Well, I haven't met a girl yet who doesn't change before bed, and especially one who would wear a bra to bed cause they're uncomfortable, so I tried to get you ready for bed. I tried to dress you in my shirt, but you kinda grabbed me and." Ranma paused as he blushed bashfully, "you seemed happy, so I let it go".

Hearing the odd soft hesitance in his voice made her wonder, so Utena pulled herself up a bit to look Ranma in the face. She found his eyes clouded with confusion and hesitance. Lying down, her clear blue eyes softened as she considered how to confirm her suspicions. She considered asking him if he touched her more than he was now, but that sounded accusatory, and that wouldn't do if he was already uncomfortable. Finally, she decided on a safe course of action that was suited to confirming her suspicions. "You can touch me if you want you know." 

Swallowed nervously, Ranma suddenly tensed and lost his nerve, moving his wandering hand from her rear to the side of her waist. Nervousness entered his voice as he evaded by saying, "Oh, that's alright" with only a slight waver to his voice. 

Utena sighed gently, his reaction being a lot worse than she expected, almost bordering on rejection. She decided to give him the benefit of the doubt though and encourage him by admitting, "It's alright if you're shy. I'm a little shy too, and this is my first time doing anything like. . . this"

Ranma blushed again, though this time it was from awkwardness. Cautiously he started, "Well, actually I've just had some bad experiences with girls. I used to have a lot of girls trying to force me into marriage, and they would sneak naked into my bed, or drug me and kidnap me to their bed. No matter what though it was always considered my fault and I'm just trying not to upset you." Even with all of the encouragement he had gotten from the new girls in his life, he still didn't like admitting to stuff like that. It sounded like whining to his ears. 

Startled Utena pushed herself up again to stare him in the eyes. His expression was openly hurt, letting her see his pain, though oddly enough she felt some of that was due to him thinking he was failing her. Pulling her lower body up, she straddled his stomach, letting her gaze into his eyes from a better distance. She could see he wasn't reacting to her nudity, but studiously keeping his hands on her waist and out of her way. She was a bit of a tomboy, so she wasn't as shy or ashamed of her body as most girls, so this position really didn't bother her since it was with him. His reaction confirmed that he was used to nude pretty girls, but didn't have good experiences with those girls. This didn't make a lot of sense to her, be she trusted what he said to be true. 

Smiling down softly at him, she asked him, "Do you want me to leave you alone?" 

Ranma stared at her, not quite understanding her right now. "Uh, you don't have too. Did I do something wrong?" Unsure of himself, he removed his hands completely from her waist, resting them uncomfortably on the mattress to his sides. 

Utena smiled gently down at him, now finally understanding. Gently she took hold of his hands and placed them on the sides of her hips, the best place for them in this position. Slightly amused her smile twisted slightly into a teasing grin as she mock scolded him, "Didn't I tell you, you could touch me? Anywhere you like, I trust you." 

Suddenly Ranma's troubled expression disappeared as a small smile slowly bloomed on his face. For a few moments they stayed that way, gazing at each other and trading soft smiles. Eventually Utena noticed that despite the upswing in his mood, he was making no move to touch her anywhere, simply holding her by her hips. Curiously she looked down at her taut stomach and hips wondering if there was something displeasing about her body. 

Seeing her curious gaze, Ranma ventured a guess at what was troubling her. "I like holding you." Embarrassed at how sappy that sounded, he blushed and looked away bashfully. Staring to the side incidentally brought his nightstand with the phone intercom on it in view, which gave him an idea. "How about breakfast in bed?" 

Finding out he just wanted to hold her did explain earlier reactions, but right now Utena was just overcome with sweet emotion. Even her amusement at his bashfulness couldn't top the warm feelings he had invoked inside her. After a few minutes, though he managed to bring her back down to Earth by offering breakfast in bed. Deciding that fitted her current romantic mood just fine, she bent down and gave him a light kiss as an answer before blushing as she realized how forward she was being. 

Blushing shyly, Ranma took a few moments before he became coherent enough to realize ordering breakfast would get his mind off of embarrassing thoughts. During that time however Utena still sat straddling his stomach and giggled at how adorable he looked with his blush as he shyly looked away. A bit worried that she had gone to far, she leaned down closer to his face but further away than kissing distance. "I'm sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have done that. It just felt right." 

Ranma turned his head to look Utena in the face, noting the worry in her eyes which was mirrored by the emotions he felt from her. Concentrating on her emotions again helped calm him down a lot, and he didn't want to see her sad or worried. 

Acting on instinct, he brought his hands up her sides with a feather light touch before cupping her face in his hands. Seeing her worried expression relax into a warm smile, he gazed down then up her body at the path his hands had traced, before returning to studying her face again. Her smile hadn't faltered a bit, and her emotions filled him in on the rest. He was feeling a simple genuine warmth from her without any of the possessiveness which would worry him. 

Utena smiled down at the innocent young man tenderly holding her face. Something about her apology had sparked something in him, and his touch had felt wonderful. Ashamed at the guilty pleasure, she wanted more of his touch, but wasn't going to push him any more about it. She had also noticed how his eyes had retraced where he touched her, confirming that he had touched her and admiring her body at once, and that pleased her. His open admiration might have normally embarrassed her, but right now she was lost in the sparkling amazement in his eyes. He was staring at her, his hands and where he touched her as if he had seen something wonderful for the first time. 

Utena was startled out of her thoughts as he gently pulled her face closer to his, until their lips met in a soft tender kiss. After a moment her brain realized she was asphyxiating and hiccupped, causing her to breath in through her nose. Eventually the kiss ended, leaving her so emotionally stunned that she was having trouble focusing her eyes, causing her eyes to brim with tears. The moment, motion and feeling had been just perfect, leaving her heart swimming around and doing acrobatics like a drunken butterfly. 

Seeing her staring down at him with wide eyes from only a few inches away, Ranma gave her a wide smile, pleased that he had done the right thing. Despite the tears brimming in her eyes, he could feel the ocean of emotions pouring off of her and knew it had turned out alright. Deciding the break the stillness that had built up, he grinned at her and simply stated, "It felt right." 

The pink haired beauty hovering over him seemed to recover herself somewhat at hearing him, but still made little motion other than staring at him with wonder and warmth spilling off of her in waves. Ranma cocked his head slightly to the side while looking at her and tried a different tactic. "A princess rewards her prince with a kiss right? I mean, you are my princess, for a little while, aren't you? So it's alright if we kiss." Ranma stopped and internally berated himself as he realized he was babbling and sounded like he was making an excuse. 

Eventually Utena seemed to come fully alive, suddenly burying her face in his hair fanned out on the pillow while rubbing her cheek against his. Her slender arms wrapped around his torso as she pulled herself needfully against him. 

Disturbed at the sudden turmoil of emotion from her, Ranma carefully put his arms around her, resting his hands on her opposing shoulder blades. After a few moments of holding her, he began to worry, as he couldn't tell if she was crying or not. "Did I say something wrong?" 

After a bit of wiggling, Utena turned over onto her side, with Ranma turning to match her so they could lie together face to face. The slim girl offered him a embarrassed smile, before explaining with a small amount of trepidation. "Sorry about acting like that and worrying you." Shyly she glanced away as she continued. "I used to dream about you so much, and now you're here and more than I ever imagined. It's just a bit much for me, sorry." 

Gently he reached a hand over and brushed her soft pink hair back from her face, while giving her a warm chiding grin. "Then just relax hime-chan, and stop apologizing. It's fine, and I understand now." Ranma paused for a second as he considered something then nodded to himself. "I trust you too." 

Utena blinked in incomprehension at that last part, before finally remembering the hints that the past women in Ranma's life had been 'unpleasant' to him. Then what he said really struck her. He actually trusted her to not hurt him. Not only was that a wonderful feeling, but it gave her an idea of something she could do for him. Smiling widely, she cuddled up to him while humming pleasantly with herself. 

For a few moments they sat there, her gazing lovingly at him, while he gave her a curious examination as if trying to figure out her newest mood. His empathic senses told him her lingering trepidation and worry had dissipated, leaving her filled with a calm warmth. Ranma knew from recent experiences that the girls currently in his life emitted that kind of warmth sometimes, and they were very kind and understanding with him then. 

The moment was interrupted somewhat though when Utena's stomach growled it's displeasure to the world. She blushed darkly, embarrassed with herself for spoiling the moment. 

Ranma would have none of her embarrassment though and rubbed her stomach then patted it while staring at her with an amused grin. Reaching over her for a moment, he grabbed the phone and dialed the short number to connect him to the kitchen phone. After two rings a familiar perky voice picked up, and he started placing his order. "Good Morning Nanako. Yeah, we would like breakfast in bed." He then took the phone away form his mouth and gave Utena his full attention. "What would you like for breakfast hime-chan?" 

Utena bit her lip nervously, not wanting to embarrass herself before him. She wasn't a sophisticated girl by any stretch of the imagination. She didn't want to come off crude by ordering something beneath the cook or household. Ashamed she stammered out, "Ah, I don't know". She didn't want to admit she had no clue what would be nice food, nor could she think of a witty excuse that a more traditional girl would know. 

Ranma alleviated her concerns though by flashing her a reassuring grin before returning his attention back to the phone. "Yeah Nanako, how about four variety courses for us. Yeah, that sounds good. Alright, I'll ask." Ranma paused again, turning his attention back to Utena. "Do you want to eat breakfast alone, or would you mind some company?" 

Utena blinked at the question, wondering why Ranma would suggest eating alone. Maybe he thought she would want some privacy. Right now though, she didn't want him going anywhere. She smiled at him warmly, trying to put enough of her feeling into it that he'd want to stay with her longer. "I would love some company for breakfast." 

Ranma stared at her for a moment, before nodding slightly and returning to the phone. "Yeah, some company would be fine. Twenty five minutes sounds good." With that, he hung up the phone. Then he sat up on the bed, picking Utena up easily with his strength and swinging himself to the edge of the bed. Utena's question of what he meant by company was washed aside by wondering what he was doing. 

Ranma looked down at their pile of clothes for a few seconds before asking her, "What would you like to wear for breakfast? After breakfast we'll get a bath so it's just for the moment." 

Utena blinked and looked at the pile of clothes, noticing the blue silk shirt that she had almost got to wear last night. Carefully she bent down to pick it up. Ranma assisted her by kneeling on the floor, not letting her out of his lap. Now in reach of the shirt, she felt it in her hands and held the ball of fabric to her chest, amazed at how smooth and light the fabric was. 

Ranma gave her an amused grin and stood up. Carefully he made his way to the lavatory door, and was pleasantly surprised when Utena opened it before he could rebalance her to free up a hand to open it with. With the door open, he stepped into the bathroom and carefully set Utena down, making sure she could stand on her good leg without her crutches. "Can you keep off your bad ankle enough to get around in here?" Utena gave him a shy nod, realizing why he wanted her to have her privacy. Carefully he released her so she could stand on her own with the aid of the sink counter and back out of the room. "Just call or knock when you're ready for me to come in for you." With that he shut the door, leaving her to her own devices. 

A short while later Utena stood before the mirror, carefully balanced on her good leg. Quickly she finished giving her face a quick scrub with water before trying to comb some of her pink hair into place with her fingers. Her hair was long and thick enough to cover most of her back, and while it was straight, it had a slight curl to it. Most notably the two long bangs by the sides of her face curled inwards, hanging like crescents beneath her eyes. 

Taking her attention from her hair, knowing there was little to do about it right now, she admired the shirt she was wearing. It hung very loosely on her slender frame and came well past mid thigh on her. With the sleeves unrolled, the hung down over her hands unless she pulled them up. Over all she thought it made her look cute. At least that was what she hoped. She knew some guys liked the nightshirt look, and she loved how the shirt felt on her and how comfortable it was. It even smelled pleasantly of it's owner, which was a big plus to her. 

A bit worried that she had spent to long in the bathroom, she hopped over to the door and knocked on it, letting Ranma know she was done. Only a few seconds later the door swung inwards, catching her by surprise and making her lose her precarious single legged balance. Before she could even start flailing her arms though, she was already in Ranma's arms. He frowned sadly at her while apologizing, "Sorry, I didn't mean to knock you over." 

Utena didn't want him sad over something that wasn't his fault. She wouldn't have wanted him sad even if it had been his fault. "No, It was my fault. I was distracted and didn't realize I was in the way of the door. It didn't even touch me though." 

Ranma didn't look convinced, but decided to let it drop as he carried her back to bed. Carefully he sat her down, worried about aggravating her injury. Seeing that she was alright he gave her a smile to try and cheer up the mood a bit. "I'll just be a minute okay?" Getting a hesitant nod from her, he stepped into the lavatory himself. 

After a few minutes the hallway door opened, and three women entered the room. The green haired girl with the large bust in the abbreviated dark blue kimono she remembered from last night. The petite pale blond in the green dress she recognized as well as being with the other girl last night. The pale blue haired girl in the purple dress with apron that resembled a stylish and fancy maid's outfit was someone she didn't recognize at all. 

All three of the girls entering carried a large silvery tray crammed with a variety of dishes. 

The pale blond took the lead and gave a slight bow towards Utena in bed. "Breakfast is served Lady Utena." Looking towards the lavatory door where they could hear the sink running, Maria called out a bit louder than her normal conversational level, "Master Ranma, breakfast is here." 

The door opened, and Ranma came out, still rubbing his face with a hand towel to dry it. "Sorry, had to wait a bit for the hot water." 

Maria ducked her head in deference. "That is alright Master Ranma, we just arrived. Shall breakfast be served in bed, or at the table?" 

Ranma smiled happily and threw his towel into the bathroom, knowing it would land on the counter by the sink. With that out of the way, he made his way to the bed and sat down, scooting over until he was beside Utena and leaning back against the pillows laid against the headboard.

The girls understood and sat on the bed. Ayumi sat on Utena's side, while Maria and Nanako sat on Ranma's side. Maria and Nanako immediately started taking turns feeding Ranma off of their platters, and he resigned himself to allowing himself to be hand fed this morning. Utena was a bit surprised that the girls were apparently staying with them, and even more surprised when they began feeding Ranma. 

Thoughts on that were cut short however when the busty girl sitting on her side of the bed offered her a small bowl filled with slices of various fruits. "I can feed you too if you wish Lady Utena. Just tell me what you want and I'll get it." Ayumi's eyes slid sideways, glancing at Ranma sidelong and she turned back to the stunned young girl with a suggestive look. "or if you're feeling a bit left out, you can feed Ranma too."

Utena blushed and looked away shyly, while nibbling on the tasty fruit. She was a bit unsure about some of the dishes on the trays, but fruit she could deal with. That was probably why the green haired girl had handed it to her. She was a bit jealous and upset at first of the girls commandeering Ranma for breakfast like that, but with Ayumi offering to treat her the same way made her feel better about it.

After finishing off a stack of pancakes with sausage, Ranma turned to Utena. "Have you been introduced to them yet?"

Utena finished chewing and swallowed the peach slice she was eating before answering. "No, though I remember seeing two of them last night."

Ranma nodded to her, and then turned to the pale blue haired young woman. She had a moderate tan and a somewhat plump figure with wide hips. "This is Nanako. She's the cook here, and she's very good." Nanako gave him a big grin at his compliment and stuffed his mouth with one of her rice balls. Ranma gave her an annoyed look but let it slide as he chewed the rice ball up and swallowed.

Rolling his eyes he turned his gaze over to the busty green haired girl by Utena's side, turning his expression back into a smile. "This is Ayumi. She is my personal ninja servant, and who I spar with. With her help I'm going to take a look at your ankle after breakfast and see what I can do." Ayumi gave Ranma a curious look at Ranma openly calling her a ninja, unaware of how much current culture had popularized ninja.

After a few seconds, Utena turned to the blond pale skinned girl sitting across the bed from her. Ranma followed her gaze and seemed to consider the blond girl for a moment before introducing her. "This is Maria. She's Sakura's handmaiden, but she's very nice to me." Ranma seemed a bit unsure about Maria's introduction, as he had never really been told Maria's position. Maria's gentle smile directed at him reassured him though, causing him to sigh in relief.

The pink haired girl smiled brightly, "Well, it's nice to meet you all". Utena looked around between the other girls and Ranma, her expression dropping slightly. "..but, isn't it kind of..odd to have so many girls being 'nice' to one guy?"

"Well it wouldn't do for a prince like Ranma to be unfamiliar with girls." stated an amused Maria, a small smile upon her lips.

Ayumi picked up the line, continuing on Maria's line of thought, "He needs to have good experiences with girls, and it wouldn't do for him to be lonely. Besides, he's just so cute when he's embarrassed about being waited on." She finished with a mischievous grin while glancing at Ranma.

Utena finished the line of thought herself, "..because he had bad experiences with girls before".

Ranma looked at her with a troubled expression, "Could we not talk about that?"

Blushing and ducking her head, Utena felt bad for bringing that up in front of him now. With sudden inspiration though, she grabbed a strawberry from her bowl and fed it to Ranma, suddenly smiling at him.

Ranma looked at her oddly for a moment, then let it slide as he realized she was trying to drop the subject. Breakfast then continued with a much lighter tone.

* * *

After breakfast was finished and put away, Ranma decided it was time to look at Utena's ankle. Carefully undoing the brace and the wrapping around Utena's ankle, Ranma began his examination of the injury. It apparently consisted of damaged ligaments, with some bruised flesh that had swollen. The swelling seemed to be the worst part, and from what he was learning from Ayumi, pressure points and some massage would help that a lot. Carefully he reached out and numbed the area with his ki before massaging gently into the flesh of her ankle.

The young girl in the blue silk shirt was very surprised when she only felt a strange tingling warmth around her ankle. Ranma seemed to be treating her ankle very carefully, but despite how gentle he was, she couldn't imagine why she wasn't feeling any pain from her swollen ankle joint. After a few moments though she could almost swear her ankle was returning to it's original shape, the soft tissue becoming less puffy as the swelling decreased.

After a moment, Ranma stopped to admire his work on her ankle. It was still bruised and slightly swollen, but now it would be healed in a few days, and she would be able to go around without the brace. Satisfied with what he could feel of her ki flows realigning, Ranma turned to Ayumi to see her opinion.

Ayumi nodded thoughtfully towards him, "Very good young master. You could have increased her blood flow a little more, but that could strain her veins".

The man with the tousled loose black hair smiled and patted Utena's leg. Looking at the clock, he frowned to himself. "I have to go to classes soon. I'll be back a little after lunch okay? Just stay off your feet and let them take care of you, okay Hime-chan?"

Utena gazed at Ranma for a moment, accepting that he had to go for a while, "Alright my prince". Giggling a little at that, she resolved to talk with the girls about Ranma's past after he was gone and find out what she could do to help.

* * *

Nabiki stretched her arms, working out her early morning stiffness in her body. A bit thoughtfully, she picked her Mokona plushy off of her bed, staring at the rabbit like creature, a character from a fantastic story about magical princesses and princes.

Just like Ranma now apparently.

His life had always been more fantastic than the manga she read. Despite her dealings at school, she was still a young woman with romantic ideals. Ranma had been her hope, then disappointment when he wasn't like the guy she was expecting.

Now she was beginning to realize what she missed with him by having such expectations.

Now apparently he was reaching his potential, becoming refined to the point where he was the true essence of a heroic prince from the various stories she read.

Disgusted with herself, she tossed the plushy onto the bed. How foolish could she be to entertain thoughts of Ranma treating her well with their history? The prince always rescued the loving princess, not the cold-hearted villainess who had given up on love and taken advantage of the prince.

Internally upset with herself, she made her way down to breakfast, wondering how to deal with informing the locals about Ranma.

Of course, sometimes it's the cold girl who has given up on love who needs her prince the most.

* * *

That night in the Sakura manor's garden area, the Stargazers Club was having their meeting. The group outside consisted of about two dozen young college women, and a few couples who were out watching the stars. Sakura herself sat beneath one of the many cherry trees, watching over her handful of household servants as they served the guests or more commonly watched the stars themselves. 

The largest group was around one particular young man with long black hair held back into a pony-tail. Besides watching the stars and the occasional shooting star, the people gathered also tended to talk, sometimes philosophically. 

The young man at the center of so many young woman's attention turned to the pink haired girl at his side, "Utena, do you know what destiny is?" 

She looked a little uncertain at first, "Well, I think so. It was my destiny to be your princess, right?" 

Ranma looked over at her, giving her a smile, while the college girls grinned to each other at how sweet that was. They had already been told of the story between Ranma and Utena and gushed over how romantic it was. Ranma turned his gaze back to the stars, "You could say that. Fate is what life has in store for you. It's what happens to you when you don't try to rise above it. Destiny is the greatness you can reach for. I can't tell you what your destiny is, you just have to try your best and you'll find it." 

The pink haired beauty smiled at him, "I never thought of it like that. I like the sound of that." 

Michi, a young brown haired woman wearing wire framed glasses spoke up beside them, gushing with excitement, "Aww, you two are so perfect together. I can't believe it, a prince and princess just like a story. It's so romantic!" 

Miaji Tenou, a well built woman with her blond hair in a high ponytail tapped Michi on the shoulder playfully. "Don't say things like that. I personally like being able to spend time with our dear sweet prince here. It may not be a date but it's a lot better than being alone." Seeing Utena look at her, she waved her hands in front of her in panic, "I didn't mean it like that. I mean you said you were leaving and couldn't be his girlfriend." 

Utena smiled comfortingly at the flustered older girl. "It's alright. It is true I can't stay. I think it's sweet he spends time with all of you that don't have boyfriends." 

Pulling back slightly in surprise, Miaji stared intently at Utena to see if she was being honest. "Well, you don't seem very surprised by that." 

Utena's smile quirked into a warm conspiratorial grin, "Well, I spent today with Miss Sakura and Maria talking about Ranma. I think it's sweet what he's been doing with you girls. I'm also surprised you girls have managed to share him so well." 

Seeing the younger girl's reaction, Miaji brightened considerably. "Well, since we have a girl's university here, we have a lot more girls in town. Ranma has only taken us out twice, but it's been really nice. To be truthful, it really is like having a boyfriend, you just have to share his attention and time a little, but Ranma pays a lot more attention to you than most guys, so it's still good." 

Utena smiled and nodded to her, before glancing over to Ranma, who was blushing slightly while watching the sky. He seemed to be doing his best to ignore the girls talking around him. "Yeah, so I wouldn't want to ruin that. He's been wonderful to me so far as it is. It wouldn't be right for me to keep him to myself when I'm not going to stay here with him." 

The athletic blond grinned at her, "Yeah, I get what you're aiming at. Those of us without boyfriends don't really have all the spare time needed for a relationship. We just want to spend some time with a sweet guy every once in a while, until we're done with college and ready to settle down in life. There's no real need to get jealous or anything just so a few other girls can't be happy." Miaji seemed to find something funny and chuckled to herself. "Oh if only my dear tomboy little sister Haruka heard me saying that. She's a bit of a feminist, so she would have a kittens hearing me defending the idea of sharing a guy with other girls." 

Michi pushed her glasses up and glanced over at the confident blond, "You make it sound like we're Ranma's harem or something. He's just being nice and spending time with us. I'll remind you he's been a perfect gentleman." 

Miaji waved her hands to placate the smaller girl while laughing, "I didn't mean it like that, it's just some people would paint it that way, you know?" glancing around conspiratorially, she leaned over to mock-wisper, "I'm sure if we tried hard enough though we could see just how well he treats a girl in bed." She took note of how Utena started blushing at the mention of getting Ranma in bed. 

"I'm sitting right here you know?" rhetorically asked an annoyed Ranma. 

Before a Miaji, distracted by Ranma, could start questioning Utena, Yukima the Stargazer's Secretary sat down near Ranma. A bit troubled, she hesitantly asked Ranma, "Ranma, who was that girl you were with two nights ago? She seemed like an ex-girlfriend, but she was so mean." 

Ranma glanced over to where Yukima was sitting, suddenly taking interest in the conversation, as everyone else perked up, interested in the news. "Well, that was Nabiki Tendou. She was an arranged fiancée of mine for a couple of weeks, but all she really did was sell me out to other girls and sports clubs". Ranma shrugged, seemingly dropping the conversation. 

The girls however stared at him a bit incredulously, rolling 'sell me out to other girls' through their minds. 

Miaji broke the silence, voicing the general sentiment of everyone else. "So she's part of that mysterious past of yours. I can see why you would want it to stay in the past. 

Utena expected Ranma to react badly to being reminded of his past, but he only grunted dismissively. "Knowing Nabiki, she's already sold the information on where I am, and knowing the people there, they'll come after me." 

Miaji nodded thoughtfully, as the others did the same. Continuing the serious air, she asked, "So, Utena, why were you blushing so bad when I suggested getting Ranma in bed?" turning her question into teasing. 

The pink haired girl blushed and hid her face in her hands, "It's not what you think! Honest!" 

Ranma looked confused, "It's not about you sleeping with me last night?" 

Utena stared at Ranma like a deer caught in headlights, while letting out a startled squeak. 

* * *

As the girls chatted, Ranma watched the stars, spotting a brief reddish streak that was probably orbital debris. Despite what it might really be, it was still a falling star, an ancient name for something small plummeting into the atmosphere and burning up in the charged ionosphere. His time in Astronomy had taught him that much, but the kid inside of him just told him to make a wish.

Listening to the girls filled him with a sense of surrealness. They were practically arguing the rights of free girls to date him without possessing him. At the time they weren't considered dates, but apparently the girls were reconsidering the issue.

With his limited knowledge of girls, he was fairly certain that they generally didn't discuss sharing some guy they liked in a friendly manner. Of course he didn't see anything wrong with walking them home, talking with them or escorting them for the night, but he also knew a lot of people would jump to conclusions.

What mattered to him was that he was making the girls fairly happy, and he quietly wished to keep it that way.

Because, right now he knew it wouldn't last. The girls from his past almost literally seemed to want to own him. He wasn't precisely sure what they wanted, except knowing that everyone from his past would want him to do precisely what they wanted. He wouldn't be surprised if they started showing up tomorrow with their demands or death threats for him.

Until then though, he would enjoy his new life as best he could.

* * *

The next afternoon found Ranma and Utena outside. The young girl had healed enough that she could stand on her injured foot and walk some, though she wasn't up for anything more strenuous. At the moment she was watching Ranma as he curiously swung a bokken about. Curious herself, she asked him, "Ah, Ranma? You do know how to use a sword, right?" 

Ranma smiled brightly at her, feeling completely self-assured, "Nope, but I've been in enough fights against them. Just give me a bit to figure it out." 

Utena paused, wanting to voice her serious concern about someone with no sword fighting experience teaching her to sword fight, but managed to hold herself in check. She didn't want to upset him just yet, so she would let him try at least. "Ah, so what are you going to teach me?" She had to admit, his casual fluid slashes with the katana shaped stick looked pretty effective. 

Ranma didn't pause in getting a feel for how various thrusts, blocks, dodges and sword thrusts flowed together, continuing his motion as he answered her. "Ah well, some physical conditioning for speed and power while getting down the basic motions. Then we work on your ability to chain movements together smoothly and break your opponents pace." Ranma shrugged, dismissing it as a serious concern. "It's not that hard really, just practice." 

Ayumi stepped away from the tree she was leaning against, smiling mysteriously at Ranma. "Indeed. Later on you merely continue keeping yourself fit, learning new techniques and new counters. A style is merely a limited set of motions." Smirking a bit she threw a half dozen slim throwing knives at Ranma. 

The young silk clad man casually stepped aside from the entire salvo instead of deflecting each knife, seemingly ignoring the lethal attack on his person. "Yeah, that's the gist of it. All learning a style is good for is competition purposes and having the honor of a school to defend." 

Utena nodded thoughtfully while in a bit of shock over seeing the green haired girl casually attack Ranma like that. Ayumi frowned at Ranma before reprimanding him, "You were supposed to deflect them, not dodge them all. Now I have to hunt them all down." 

Ranma blinked cluelessly at Ayumi, "Why didn't you just say so? I could have just caught them for you." 

Ayumi frowned at the point, never quite able to tell if he was really ignorant of his mortality or just making fun of her. Deciding to get her point across, she drew her short sword from the back of her obi and charged Ranma. "It was supposed to be for your sword training." 

Ranma dodged her initial to slashes without any visible concern and continued at a conversational tone, starting to deflect her quick slashes with his bokken. "Oh, sorry, guess I wasn't thinking. I don't really need deflection techniques since I'm training Utena for a duel though." 

Spinning into a low sweep, that caused Ranma to hop up, she continued into a highly angled spinning kick at the airborne young man. He swiped her ankle with his bokken, adding more energy to her motion and causing her to spend a few precious moments rebalancing to correct for the added motion lest she throw herself off balance. Her conversational tone belied the fact they were just playing though. "Still, it's something you could learn." 

Ranma spun through the air with the reactive motion of his blow against his sparring partner, landing easily on his feet. Before Ayumi could engage him with a few more slashes, he easily leapt backwards. "Heh, speaking of that, there is something I want to try." Continuing his backwards motion, he leapt back against one of the surrounding trees. In the moment of stillness where his motion against the tree was stronger than gravity, he prepared for his next move. 

As Ayumi recovered, she let out a small gasp at seeing the position he went into as Ranma crouched against the side of a tree. It wasn't just the fact that he fell into an advanced Battoujutsu stance in a difficult position, but the ki flows he was using. The ki flow in his sword arm indicated he was going to make an extremely fast Battoujutsu draw, but it was the ki flow in his other arm that worried her. 

Ranma leapt horizontally from his sideways perch on the tree, drawing the wooden blade so fast from his side where he held it like a sheathed katana that the slash was invisible to the eye. The ki from the hand that acted like it was holding a sheath flowed out after the ki put into the blade, creating a fierce wave of rippling air that surged towards Ayumi. Acting instinctually on her training, the busty ninja girl rolled to the side as soon as he started his motion, the ripple of air traveling beneath her then horizontal legs to tear a gash into the soft ground. 

Ranma made no motion to continue his attack, examining the gash in the ground instead. Ayumi stood in a guard stance and carefully made her way over to examine Ranma and the miniature trench. "How did you know that Battoujutsu technique?" 

Ranma looked at her curiously, cocking his head to one side. "Never heard of that. I just modified an Iaijutsu strike I've seen with what I know of focusing ki through a bokken. The important part was dulling the vacuum blade created so it wasn't lethal." 

The ninja girl snorted in amusement and shook her head, "You're quite amazing at times young Master." 

Ranma glanced at her, making a noncommittal sound before gazing at his bokken. Gradually the stick began to glow blue, before smoldering and breaking as parts of it turned to ash. "Huh, as I thought. I'm not focusing the ki into it just right yet." 

Shrugging, he went to where the supplies were and picked up two new bokkens. Then he walked over to Utena and handed the startled girl one of the sword shaped sticks. Looking at her curiously, he cocked his head to the side, "You okay hime-chan?" 

Utena blinked at him for a moment, before trying to calm herself, "Ah, sorry, I didn't realize you would be so good, or that that was even possible." 

Ranma looked at her, lips pursed, considering how to handle her. "Well, how about we start practice?" Suiting words to action, he slid into a wide stance and made an easy diagonal downward slash, then turned it into a horizontal slash. 

Nodding to herself, Utena slipped into a wide legged stance herself and tried the double slash motion. When she looked at Ranma, he coached her to not copy him exactly but just try it naturally. Practice proceeded like that, with Ranma starting her out with natural motions, then refining them. 

* * *

As Utena practiced her slashes on Ayumi, who was deflecting with her own bokken and making the occasional reprisal attack, Sakura stepped up beside Ranma. 

Feeling her quiet presence, he managed to keep his eyes on the sparring while feeling out her presence. 

Sakura smiled slightly, most of the warmth in her eyes instead of upon her lips. Her gaze flickered between Ranma and the dueling girls, as she quietly voiced her opinion. "She is doing well already Ranma. Is she as good as you expected?" 

Ranma nodded slightly, not taking his eyes off of the pair. "She's coming along well, but there's only so much I can do in less than a week." 

The statuesque woman nodded slightly in response. "Indeed. Know this Ranma, her Ohtori Academy exists partially within the dream world. The more she believes in herself and her own potential, the stronger she will be there." 

Glancing sidelong at the kimono clad woman, Ranma then turned his gaze back to the dueling pair, keeping his thoughts to himself. 

* * *

Nabiki went over her figures one more time, and noted that everyone was scheduled to meet tomorrow after school let out at noon. Saturday would probably be the best day to tell them about Ranma. They would find him sooner or later, but if she stuck to her normal operations, she should be able to control them a bit and perhaps not get Ranma upset with her.

Of course, that plan had the added benefit of getting her the usual amount of money from the locals. It also happened to be the best bet for getting in good with Ranma short of cutting ties between her family and everyone else and going to Ranma for aid, something she wasn't going to do.

Tomorrow she would see how Ranma and his new friends dealt with his past. She was sure it would be interesting.

* * *

Partial Inspiration from the song Butterfly by smile.dk.

"Where's my samurai?!  
I've been searching for a man, all across Japan; just to find, to find my samurai.  
Someone who is strong, but still a little shy. Yes I need, I need my samurai.  
Someone who won't regret to keep me in his net. Yes I need, I need my samurai  
Ai yai yai, I'm your little butterfly."

Lyrics rearranged since it's the words that partially inspired the Prince idea.

Utena inspiration comes from the Utena Music Video: Gravity of Love, which can be found at www.animemusicvideos.org

**Contact info:** email valorphoenix@yahoo.com   
ICQ # 1685995. If you're using ICQ, please be semi-polite and to the point. I'm generally happy to discuss things but not much for small talk.  
Website: 


	3. Chapter 3 Nightmare Revolution

Dreams of Sakura: Chapter 3

Author's Notes: This chapter had to be split, the consequences continuing into Chapter 4. It gets a bit dark at the end as a result of what happens midway through. This chapter is 16,030 words long.

Chapter Tags: Continuation, Post Vol. 38: Moderate crossover with increasing original elements Dark Spots WAFF spots

* * *

Tatata-tap.

Tatata-tap.

Irritably one Nabiki Tendou drummed her fingers on her desk. The last class of the day before lunch on Saturdays always seemed the most tedious. A class that was already boring with a teacher who droned on in similar discontent was made worse by it being the last class of the week.

Her annoyance was heightened by what she would have to do in less than an hour.

Tatata-tap.

Running damage control with the likely suspects was always tricky. She was never certain what kind of odd curveball would come at her, so making a plan was more useless than usual. All she could do would be to prepare herself with as much knowledge as she could and just take charge when she needed to.

Tatata-tap.

Her father and the panda would be a predictable duo, though the scent of money might distract them. Akane would probably charge in and deny anything, but she was easily redirected. Ms. Saotome would be predictable until she learned about Ranma's new 'family', then who knows what that woman would do.

Tatata-tap.

The others, well, what they did and how they reacted didn't really matter. They could dig themselves into a hole for all she cared.

Tatata-tap.

Tatata-tap.

What was up with Ranma anyways? She had seen him do some strange things before, but he had been easy to see through then. Those two girls had practically molded themselves against his body, and he had seemed just fine with it. The girl that may as well been an antique doll in her fragile beauty had been bad enough, but the other one was obvious in what she wanted.

Heaving a sigh, Nabiki forced herself from that line of thought. It certainly wasn't something she needed to put herself through.

Tatata-tap.

Tatata-tap.

Overcome with boredom, Nabiki decided fantasizing about a nice rich guy with long black hair in a damp bathrobe wasn't all that bad of a way to pass the time.

Just as long as she didn't end up hanging off of his arm like a lovesick girl.

Then of course it would be worse if she started daydreaming about him. Perverted daydreams were one thing, as they could be blamed on hormones, but romantic ones weren't so easily dismissed. At least she wasn't daydreaming of doing both in any variety.

A few minutes later the entire class was startled as Nabiki's desk rattled as she thumped her head down on it. Nervously, several people edged their desks away from her covertly.

Nabiki sighed in annoyance as her distraction technique worked for the moment.

Being lonely, sexually frustrated, and reading manga ranging from sappy romance to kinky hentai just didn't go well together at all when she was trying to maintain an icy disinterested demeanor.

A low, light sound partially between a chuckle and a giggle sounded in the class, and a few brave poor souls ventured to look at Nabiki. The wiser students had already scooted their desks clear across the room. The poor souls that saw the devious grin she was sporting at that moment practically teleported across the room to cower in fear on the other side.

Nabiki had a little experience before acting the part of a sexy intelligent woman in teasing boys, particularly her favorite, Ranma. She was still a young girl though and just acting the part. She knew though eventually she would become a woman with real experience, and she knew just what type of woman she wanted to become. Sexy and intelligent, with wit and will, turning her aggressive behavior towards dominating business matters, and being passionate where it mattered.

Part of it was finding a guy she actually liked enough. She didn't want someone too pathetic to stand up to her, a whipped boy was useless to her. Most of the willful boys however were self absorbed to the point of ignoring their trophy girlfriends, the other extreme Nabiki was going to avoid.

Ranma was definitely willful, but despite his previous arrogant attitude, he would bend over backwards for a girl, while sometimes showing some willful pride. His first turn off to her had been his unexpected surprises, which she had quickly realized just made him the most interesting guy she knew of. With that sore spot gone, the only two areas he lacked in as far as she was concerned was that he was poor and crude to the point of being insolently insulting at times. Of course, that was most definitely not the case with him now.

The teacher squeaked and fainted as the catty Tendou girl licked her lips and moaned breathily. Nabiki merely grinned and strutted over to the door, the barricade of students and desks suddenly parting before her. "Mhmm...I suppose that means class is dismissed."

As she left, the guys and girls of the class continued staring at the doorway. Guy and girl alike, they felt like they had been graded like a piece of beef and been dismissed as lacking.

The only thing they were thankful for was that Kuno hadn't shown up again today.

It actually took them a few minutes to collectively realize class was basically over with.

* * *

Nabiki made it home a bit early that day, getting there before Akane did. Her first order of business was finding Kasumi and Nodoka, whom happened to be in the same room. "Hey Aunty, stick around while I gather everyone up, I have information on Ranma." Almost absently she turned around, having almost forgotten, "Oh yeah, I have some news for you too Kasumi."

Kasumi was a bit surprised at being included like that, wondering what news Nabiki would have for her. Nodoka on the other hand was a bit more active, immediately following after Nabiki. "You know something about my son?"

Nabiki turned back towards Nodoka with a grin that was warmer and more confident than her usual one. "Oh, he's just fine Aunty. We even had a nice date, so you should be happy."

Nodoka was a bit too stunned by that information to continue. That was definitely not the kind of information on her son she was expecting, no matter how good it was. Kasumi recovered first and walked over to the Saotome matriarch, gently leading her back in the kitchen.

Nabiki took the opportunity to make her phone calls. She didn't want to explain this more than once.

* * *

"Telephone Master Ranma. It's Nabiki Tendou."

Ranma looked up from the tray of pastries he was plundering in the kitchen towards to direction of Maria's bright voice. Glancing at Nanako for a moment, he went over to the kitchen phone and picked it up. "Hello, Ranma here."

He listened for a moment as Nabiki told him she was going to inform everyone about his whereabouts today. "Alright Nabiki, thanks for the heads up. I'll be sure to arrange a proper welcome for them." He was a bit surprised when Nabiki changed the subject. "Well of course I meant it about Kasumi. You? Well I suppose if you really mean it. Alright, later."

After hanging up the phone, he stared at it for a moment. Then he let out a snort while shaking his head. "Heh, She's something else. Oh Nanako, we're going to have guests today, dunno how many will be eating if any." That seemed to remind him of something else, causing him to rush out of the kitchen.

The house's ninja-cook looked after her master. Of course, he was the only master she had ever had, but he was a pleasure to serve. It was surprising to see him leave without finishing his after class snacks. Humming to herself, she turned to put away the snacks for later, only to find the tray empty. Even with her training, the boy managed to pull something like that as a common occurrence. Giggling to herself, she planned out a dinner with food suitable for hand feeding him with again.

* * *

Nabiki smirked as she looked out over the milling crowd. They were just so predictable. Time to see just how many of them would stay and listen to everything. "Alright everyone, I found out Ranma is staying at the mansion near Shinamori University. The owner of both just happens to be a woman named Sakura."

Kuno took that moment to stand up, point his bokken into the sky and start torturing everyone else again. "Ha! So that is where the foul villain lies in his lair of deceits!" Not staying to listen to the mindless peasants, he rushed out of the Tendou compound so Sasuke could be allowed to arrange transportation so he could slay the fiend swiftly.

Genma took this as an opportunity to try and make himself seem important. "Well then Tendou old boy, it's time to go fetch that disrespectful son of mine."

Shampoo bounced up while hammering Mousse into the ground before he could shout out anything she considered stupid. "Yes! Shampoo go save husband from woman who no know not to steal Amazon woman's husband."

Cologne took this as an opportunity to teach Shampoo another lesson. Bashing the impulsive girl on the head just happened to be one of the few ways to get her attention. "Shampoo, I don't believe that is all the information Nabiki has for us. Perhaps you would like to know more before you go rushing off into battle?"

Nabiki gave the sometimes-cat-girl a catty grin before turning her attention back to the group. "Don't worry there kitten, this is useful information after all. I wouldn't be wasting my time here otherwise."

"Now to get to the matter at hand, I met Ranma there, and he's better than ever as far as I can tell. He's also staying there voluntarily and not really taking any real effort to hide. He admitted to having something done to him to make his memories foggy, but they seem to be distant instead of changed. From what I can tell, his memories are still accurate. I didn't meet with this Sakura woman since she was out at the time, but I met his new personal maid and a girl that sounds like the busty ninja Konatsu noticed."

"As for the rest, he nor the people there seemed hostile. Kasumi has been invited to stay there and attend the local college for free, and I managed to get permission to stay there myself."

Cologne was a bit surprised when Akane asked an intelligent question before she could raise it, though it wasn't phrased as she would have put it. "Kasumi was invited to attend college there? Who invited you and how come I'm not invited?"

Nabiki gave her little sister a surprisingly warm smirk. "Well that's simple. Sakura made Ranma her heir. Right now he basically owns the college and is richer than Kuno. As for the why, I think Kasumi is the only person he remembers fondly so to speak, but he seemed willing to put the past behind him. I got an invite just because I asked nicely."

Cologne narrowed her eyes in thought, finding one curious bit of information that might be important. "Tell me now child, you mentioned Ranma's memories. Is there something you suspect there?"

The predatory young woman nodded thoughtfully. "I'm not positive mind you, but I think his memories were made more distant so to speak. When I was dealing with him, I'm pretty sure he remembered everything I did to him, but he wasn't afraid of me or angry, just very objective about it."

The ancient shriveled woman nodded thoughtfully. "The sounds troubling for our cause. I take it these new people in his life are taking pains to be nice to him?"

Nabiki couldn't help but smile and laugh to herself. "Oh yes, those girls were definitely being nice. They put quite a bit of effort into teaching him how to treat people. They have him well, to put in their terms, acting like a prince. The noble kind, not the "I need to kidnap a princess because I'm a loser" kind."

Shampoo frowned cutely while knuckling Mousse deeper into the ground as he started to stir. "How is this problem? Shampoo go and take care of Sneaky-Husband-Stealing-Girls."

The shriveled piece of human jerky that refuses to die, Cologne, shook her head sadly at her descendant's foolish impulsive nature. "It's much more insidious than that child. Ranma has apparently achieved a state where he can objectively view his life, like a monk's moment of enlightenment, or a person in threat of dying." Seeing no one had quite grasped it yet, she decided to demonstrate. "Shampoo, how do you think Ranma sees you?"

The aforementioned girl cocked her head to the side in thought, sending her long purple hair swaying. "How husband see wife? Shampoo pretty and make nice-nice, not like Great-terror-of-kitchens-girl."

Cologne shook her head sadly. "That is how you see yourself girl. Ranma obviously doesn't share that viewpoint, or he would be your husband already. Ranma likely sees you now similarly to how Nabiki would see you, without emotion."

Seeing the hanging question, Nabiki decided to fill Shampoo in. "I think I know what she's getting at. You spent months trying to kill Ranma, then tried to kill Akane, then erased her memories, tried several times to force Ranma into marrying you, and other than that were the lovely times he got to rescue you, like from the ghost cat. Oh, and you also happen to turn from fairly annoying to his worst nightmare. In the past, he's only been nice to you because you've manipulated his emotions, but now that won't work on him." Looking around, she noted that no one really seemed to understand. The idea that Ranma might now be able to make rational judgments about people was apparently too alien of an idea for this group.

Nabiki decided to ease their worries. "Look, just take your time dealing with this. It's not like they're blood-sucking monsters or some kind of strange cult that needs Ranma for their plot."

"Right, forget I said that."

* * *

After wandering the mansion for a few rooms, Ranma eventually found Maria in the hanging garden room. The room was so named for its many tiers of plants in multiple rows. The other nice feature of the room was the large banks of windows, allowing for plenty of sunshine and a good view.

Finally finding her, he called out to her a bit urgently, "Hey Maria, I didn't expect you to be in here."

Maria smiled politely from her position near the far wall and daintily walked over to him to prevent her skirt from disturbing any of the lower plants. "I was merely keeping Lady Utena company as you wished."

The aforementioned girl poked her head up from behind a row of flowers, holding up a hand full of flowers. She had a white tulip tucked behind her right ear and a very bright smile, with the backlighting from the noon sun providing a pleasant halo glow to her skin. "Hi Ranma. Maria said it was alright to pick some flowers, so I did. I hope it's alright."

Ranma looked at her a bit surprised, as he had been so intent on Maria. "Ah sure, that's what they're there for." After a moment, he remembered himself and turned back to Maria. "The people from Nerima are coming today, so I want to make sure you're at full strength in case something happens."

Maria blushed faintly and looked away, abashed at getting special attention from Ranma. "Are you sure? I mean, I'm not really hungry yet since last week." Nervously she fiddled with her skirt, embarrassed of getting special treatment from her Master, but also not wanting to go against his wishes in doing so.

The pony tailed young man shook his head in amusement at her bashfulness. "Don't worry about it. It's best to have you charged up in case something happens, and we should have enough time before anyone arrives."

At this time Utena stepped over to the pair with a troubled look. "What are you talking about? Is something wrong?"

Her prince turned to her, giving her his attention again. "Nothing's wrong really. I guess you may as well know about Maria. It's nothing bad, just that some people wouldn't understand."

The pink haired girl blinked and followed after the pair, not quite expecting something like this to come up. "Ah, what exactly are you talking about?"

The petite blond hummed lightly before thoughtfully answering. "Well, to be honest, it sounds scarier than it is. If Master wishes you to know Lady Utena, then it is best you watch, then I shall answer your questions."

"Yeah, like Maria said. Noth'n really bad is gonna happen." Said Ranma, sounding a little distracted.

A bit hesitantly, Utena followed along. Eventually the trio reached their destination, Ranma's room. That was when Maria started taking off her dress. "Ah hehe, I don't think I'm uhm, ready for this." stuttered the suddenly nervous princess.

The provisional man of the house looked at Utena a bit cluelessly, wondering how she figured out what was going on. "Huh? What are you worried about? I'm the one she's going to be sucking and licking on."

Utena colored with a scarlet blush while backing away towards the door. She certainly hadn't been expecting this even though she knew she was supposed to share Ranma. Was this supposed to be a way to introduce her to such a lifestyle?

Ranma paused in the middle of unbuttoning the front of his silk shirt. "Huh? If you don't want to watch, you don't have to Hime-chan."

As her prince reclined on the bed and the slim lingerie clad blond crawled into bed with him, Utena paused at the door. Watching wouldn't be so bad right? She could always leave, even though she was pretty sure she wasn't ready to see someone else with her prince. Was this some kind of torture, or a test?

She could only see the blonde's back and long mane of hair, but it was obvious when they began. Ranma grasped the pale girl's wrists, holding them out to the sides while the pale girl herself kissed her way around the base of his neck. As Maria started to squirm in growing arousal, Utena wondered why she kept kissing near his clavicle. Was this a demonstration of what Ranma liked?

For some reason however, the blonde's moaning and squirming in arousal increased, despite the relatively innocent nature of their contact. Then the blonde's restrained thrashing forced her off to one side of Ranma's chest, letting Utena spy the light smear of blood over his right clavicle. "Ranma?"

The young martial artist looked over at the rather concerned and confused looking girl by the doorway, a little worried about how she was handling this. "See, she only needs a sip of blood to fuel her powers. It's not as bad as you thought."

The pink-haired princess pointed a shaky finger at the couple on the bed. "but, you mean she was drinking your blood?"

Ranma was a bit confused by her question. "Huh? I thought you knew she was Dracula's granddaughter. What were you thinking then?"

Rapidly realizing her blunder, Utena colored again and did her best to shift subjects. "Ah, so she's. . Dracula's Granddaughter? You're kidding, right?"

Ranma briefly gave her a surprised look for a second before wrestling with Maria for a second to keep her from nipping at him again. "Cut it out, you're drunk already." After a moment he had managed to turn the slight girl over se her back was facing him with her forearms crossed over her stomach, making her fairly helpless since she couldn't break his grip. Seeing that Maria had settled down to merely squirming, Ranma turned his attention back to Utena. "Ah, well she's half Vampire Slayer too, the Holy kind and all, so she's not really dangerous. She just needs a little blood each time, and mine is kinda strong."

Still standing there in surprise, Utena was spared having to formulate a reply by a shout from outside. "Whither the foul sorcerer Saotome? I shall slay the foul cur wherever he cowers from my awesome wrath!"

"Huh, looks like my guests have arrived early. Hime-chan, could you hold Maria for me?"

Utena blinked in shock while taking a step forward, becoming increasingly more confused. "Guest? He sounds like he wants to kill you."

The ponytailed young man answered without missing a beat. "Well yeah, when he wasn't trying to rape me or molest my former fiancée. He's pretty good at Kendou though, so it should be good practice." After answering her he waited a few seconds more before asking the still shocked girl, "Uhm, could you hold Maria for me, I kinda need to go out and kick his butt before the guards get a hold of him."

"Uh, sure." Carefully Utena sat on the bed beside the captive girl and cautiously grasped her crossed forearms. "Are you sure I'll be able to hold her?"

Her prince blinked at her quizzically before letting go of Maria. "Sure, she's really weak, and she has enough control to not use her powers. She uhm, wants to do something embarrassing, not hurt anyone."

"Oh." Mollified, Utena gave the pale girl a second look over. She wasn't really moving or struggling now, just staring at Ranma and panting a bit heavily. The blood red glowing eyes were kinda creepy, but the rich pink flush to the normally pale girl's skin along with certain other 'signs' showed just what kind of desires Maria was wanting to act on, and Utena had no doubt about whom with. "Oooh. That kind of embarrassing."

Abashedly Ranma ran his hand back through his bangs. "Eh, yeah. Uhm, well, be back soon Hime-chan, Maria." Not wanting the awkward situation to continue any longer, the young man slid open the window and zipped outside to deal with stick boy.

Utena blinked as the window was somehow shut as Ranma leapt out. She really wanted to go to the window and see him, but she couldn't do that while holding Maria.

"Ranma."

Utena looked at Maria in surprise, having thought she was too out of it. The urgent whisper had been clear enough, and the supernatural girl was staring at the same window for presumably the same reasons. A bit cautious of what the strange flushed girl might do, Utena carefully led her over to the window by her the hand. The earlier comment on drunkenness seemed right-on, as Utena had to support her with an arm around the waist to help Maria walk over to the window.

Outside stood Ayumi and several female ninja, between Ranma and some unconscious boy in a hakama, and a girl in a leotard whom was currently bound and secured between two ninja girls. The only action seemed to be Ranma talking to Ayumi, so there apparently wasn't anything to worry about.

* * *

Ranma gazed at the two heaps of Kuno siblings, trying to place everything he could see. The Kuno boy seemed to be as he remembered as normal, wearing a blue and white hakama with a normal wooden bokken. As for the girl, there was a discarded dress that looked like it was a nice one, while the girl was left wearing a black leotard. From the looked of things, the girl had been the victim of a return spike on an exploding ball, while the boy had just been beaten down.

"Is something wrong Master?"

Turning to Ayumi, Ranma shook his head slowly. "No, not really. Kodachi should be secured, but I wanna duel with Kuno there when he wakes up in a minute. Just be careful with Kodachi, she's tricky."

Making some discreet hand signals, Ayumi relayed the orders to her subordinate ninja, all the while giving Ranma her attention. "If you wish to practice your sword techniques Master, we have many sword-masters here including myself. That boy wouldn't be a proper challenge even if he was fresh."

"Well, I just want to see how well I do against him. Besides, he has a pretty hard head, so he'll be up soon."

"Well, he was hit in a few soft spots besides the head."

Ranma paused and re-examined the Kuno boy, noting the way he curled up to protect his injuries.. From the rather delicate posture he was keeping unconscious, it looked like his pelvis was just shy of being fractured. "Uhm, Ayumi, that's a little cruel there."

Discretely watching Kodachi being bound and carried away, the busty ninja girl shook her head. "My squad didn't do it. A guard that was with you broke away to do it. Such a mauling is surprising from her to be honest."

"Mhmm. Well, I want to speak with her." Feeling around for emotional auras, he felt one shrink and wilt some in shame. Noting the aura belonged to Aki surprised him. While several of his guards were skilled shadow ninja, Aki was extremely gentle, relying entirely on her stealth skills as far as he had known. Turning slightly so the ninja herself got the point, Ranma spoke to the empty air. "I'm not that upset, but I do want to speak with you about this, okay?"

After a short wait, an entirely black clad ninja girl knelt by Ranma's side. She would have been the typical indistinguishable slender female ninja, except there was something that looked like spiky black fur hanging from her backside. Having everything about her covered in black except her face, her painful ashamed expression made her look like a kicked puppy, an image not helped at all by her drooping tail.

Sighing, Ranma knelt down and put his hands on her shoulders in the hope of comforting her. "What happened Aki-chan? You're the last person I would have expected this from."

At that, the petite ninja girl started sniffling as her large sparkling eyes started to tear up. Holding her balled up fists close to her chest, she started franticly trying to explain in between sobs, but being too emotional to be understandable.

Sighing to himself, the young man took the petite dog-demon into his arms in an attempt to comfort her a bit. His empathic senses were of little help, since all he got was a jumble of emotions whirling intensely. Finding no help there, he tried a more mundane approach of rocking the slender girl in his arms while murmuring to her, "It's okay Aki-chan. Just breath in and out. One more time. That's a good girl."

Feeling her emotions were still jumbled up, Ranma went for the one activity that always worked with Aki, one that he had unknowing started to apply to other girls in his growing comfort around women. One hand snaked up high to stroke her hair and neck, while the other went lower to rub around her lower back and rump. His actions had an immediate effect on the puppy girl as she started to relax and get sleepy, but unlike a human girl who could enjoy the same attention, Ranma made a point to use his high hand to occasional rub her velvety black floppy type dog ears that blended in well with her hair.

After only a few minutes of this, the shy puppy girl had curled up in his lap, legs tucked under so her backside would be in easy reach, especially her rump and neck. Taking up this position reminded Ranma of when they first met years ago, when he was a young boy and she was truly a puppy herself. Being a boy and puppy, they had immediately taken to each other, even if he was a wandering martial artist and she walked on two legs and wore dresses. It truly brought back many warm memories of the yearly weekend get aways that Genma probably never noticed in his frequent binges.

Frowning in thought however, Ranma realized he had neglected her since his return. It wasn't too surprising however since Aki's one and probably still her only special ability seemed to be naturally melding into shadowy invisibility, an apparent result of her natural shyness. He didn't understand why she hadn't come out when he returned this time, pouncing eagerly like she normally did. Dredging up a smattering of memories from the eight to fifteen year old range of his life where he knew her, he had to guess she thought something was wrong, as she only hid from him when she was ashamed. Until they could talk and find out what was bothering his childhood pet, he would just have to settle for petting her affectionately, an action that would probably make everything alright in Aki's world of flowers and cuddling.

* * *

"And ladies and gentleman, that brings our tour of this quaint little college to a close. Next is the final stop on our tour, the stately Hisegawa Manor. Please remember to stay with the tour group, and your guide takes no responsibility for any actions you may take."

"Gee, thanks Nabiki. Your confidence in us is very reassuring."

Grinning at her younger sister, Nabiki obviously didn't regret her jab in the least. "Say what you want sis, but I didn't see what kind of flunkies are here, or even meet their leader. For all I know this Sakura woman employs hitmen and snipers, and would dispose of us by selling us to some forgotten brothel somewhere. Of course, she could practice Martial Arts Flower Arranging and just give us bouquets, but for now I'll err on the safe side."

"Come now girl, it won't be anything we can't handle. Why Tendou and I have developed a simply perfect plan to get back my ungrateful son, " blustered the blustery old fool of blustervania.

"Now now husband, I do recall you stating how easily this 'mere woman' made a fool of you before."

Finally nearing the open gates of their destination, the group noted they were apparently expected. Four men and women, dressed in varying styles but showing the similar features of carrying melee weapons and an assortment of pouches lined the path just inside the gate, two on each side. All four maintained their positions, but their relaxed and ready body language made it obvious they were ready to act and not shy about announcing it.

Turning to one of the armed young men, Nodoka inquired, "Excuse me young man, but where might I find my son?"

The gruff young ninja smirked rudely in return. "Just up the path in front of the manner. You're not with the pair that was here earlier are you?"

"Heh, must have been Kuno-chan, he did run off half cocked like usual." wryly observed Nabiki. "What happened with them?"

The guard grinned again, this time showing off pearly teeth and enlarged canines. "Well, he was insolent enough to proclaim he was here to slay the Lord of the House. I hear he might recover in time, so perhaps he'll do us the honor of gate crashing again. Us poor jonin rarely get a chance to practice our 'evil sorcerous ways' these days."

The woman beside him merely rolled her eyes. "Stop being so melodramatic. You'll get your chance to enjoy yourself. sigh Boys. Just ignore the lug there, we're just traditional gardeners that practice Martial Arts Gardening."

Smirking at the chewing out, Nabiki once again led the group, being more comfortable than the rest of the group since she had already been here. In the back of her mind however, something about ninja and traditional gardeners clicked.

Having moved down the path a bit, Nabiki noted Ayumi was coming partway to 'greet' them.

Kasumi however observed the black wagging tail attached to the black lump in Ranma's lap, which caused her to cheerfully proclaim. "Oh how cute, Ranma has a pet doggy here."

"Heh yeah, figures Saotome is a dog person." smirked Nabiki before elbowing her little sister in the side. "Heh, maybe if we should have gotten him a dog."

Akane turned an irate glare at her playful older sister, "He doesn't need a dog, besides it's enough trouble looking after Ranma."

"Well you could have trained it to keep intruders away. Who knows, it might have kept a certain cat from popping into the house and making new doors."

"That not funny! Shampoo take defense at that!"

As the group was finding amusement in Nabiki's joke, Ryouga made his way around the group to the front, where he proceeded to pose dramatically. "Finally I've found you Ranma! I'll make you pay for your crimes!"

Nabiki frowned at the young man, not having a clue about when or where Ryouga joined their little tour, but she knew he hadn't bought a ticket. She also noted that various people were homing in on Ryouga, and subtly began edging her group back away from the angry boy.

Having exhausted his small amount of patience, Ryouga continued his shouting. "Damnit Ranma! Stop playing with that mutt and fight me like a man!" To get his point across, in one smooth motion he proceeded to unstrap his iron umbrella and fling it straight at Ranma.

* * *

Somewhere, distantly, Aki was aware the hairs on the back of her neck were standing up, but right now she was in heaven. There was no greater joy for her than Ranma, and right now her was stroking her neck, replacing that prickly sensation with bliss, while the hand meandering around the small of her back produced a warmth that made the sun itself shy.

Ranma was back in her life, and as soon as she could move and form coherent thoughts, she would shower him with affection. There weren't words to express her love, so she would use flowers and cuddles. Maybe she would look for words again. Owner was too cold, and Master was too formal. Friend too little, and lover too stifling.

Tomorrow she would bring him fresh peonies, and she would call him Ranma, and he would call her Aki. He would then smile at her, and she would once again reside in paradise as a simple pet and her boy.

* * *

Upset with herself for letting a fight begin, Ayumi stood her ground for the moment, since with Ranma outside she wanted to see what he wanted done. Something however made her glance over at her young master whereupon she noted the warm sight of a boy and his puppy reunited. As a know of darkness formed in her guts, she noticed he was occupied with his pet, and recalled that a crying girl or lapful of puppy could distract Ranma enough to allow him to be hit. Even to her heightened perceptions, the umbrella was only a blur that was almost on Ranma, and even if she rent the air with her ninjitsu in time, it was too close to her young naive master.

Point first it impacted his forehead, cleanly transferring its impressive momentum to the unsuspecting youth, sending him crashing back into the mansion wall, caving it in, while one dazed and shocked dog-girl was left spinning in mid-air.

Knowing there were dozens of people there better suited for caring for Ranma, Ayumi's gaze snapped onto the young man that dared strike her master right before her eyes. Seeing that he was mid-stride forward and apparently intent on continuing his assault, she launched herself forward while preparing a fast ninjitsu technique. Slamming the spell hard and fast into the ground, the chi flows writhered like a den of vipers, ensnaring the entire group in hyper vitalized vines and grass creepers, snaring them to the ground before Cologne could even shout a warning.

Closing in on the shocked boy as he was still in mid-stumble, she shot out one leg to brace her as she hit him with her strongest right cross. Taking the blow combined with her momentum, Ryouga tore out of the ensnarement as he rocketed backwards.

Pausing a moment to crouch down and prepare, the green haired kunoichi turned to her side and barked out, "If they move, kill them!" Having then made her announcement, she leapt after the still airborne lost boy, electricity crackling between her hands as she formed a ranged attack that would assure he wouldn't have a chance to recover before she was on upon him in all her fury.

Simultaneously, Aki, having been left spinning in the air due to Ranma shooting out from under her, instinctually extended her arms and legs to slow her dizzy whirling. Catching the ground by digging in her hands and feet brought her to a jarring stop, which unfortunately left her stunned as the iron umbrella landed on one extended limb, snapping her slender left leg.

* * *

"What the hell just happened?" Asked a very confused Akane. She had almost gotten close enough to cal out to Ranma, then suddenly Ryouga pops into the scene, and now she's neck deep in perverted weeds.

Cologne, currently free of weeds and perched on Mousse's head attempted to divert some unadvisable behavior. "As always, someone managed to cause a great amount of trouble is what. I advise we all sit tight and carefully consider our actions, as we're currently in a hornet's nest of ninja and at a distinct disadvantage."

Genma of course was ignoring such advice and attempting to break free, but the vines seems to grow back just as quickly as he broke them and twice as belligerent.

Cologne shook her head in annoyance as a decent yet stupid fighter went down, a needle sticking out of Genma's neck before the vines covered his body. "Right, anyone else feeling a need for impulsive stupidity? Mousse?"

Growling slightly the myopic walking armory replied, "No, I'm good elder, I seem to have vines stuck in my equipment for some reason. Anything else I can do for you besides play pedestal for you?"

After a moment of silence where the group warily watched the surrounding ninja that watched them just as intently, the downed dog girl finally regained her senses and pushed herself up. Spotting Ranma in the debris of the destroyed wall, she scampered over to him, unmindful of her useless leg. Finding him unconscious, she followed her senses and knelt by his head on her one good leg. Staring at him intently for a moment, she went with her instincts, licking away the trickle of blood on his forehead, hoping he would wake up. When he didn't stir she stopping to gaze at his sleeping face, looking for a sign. "Ranma? Wake up. Please wake up. . . Please. . . wake up."

Hearing the pitiful pleading that was starting to degenerate into sobbing, the still bound Nerima bunch were to worried with how this was going to turn out to really notice the girl's dropping black tail was weird.

Starting to get a little nervous, Nabiki posed the question worrying a number of people, "This isn't going well, is it?"

A frustrated red-head chose that moment for her outburst. "Let me go! I want to see my son. Why isn't someone helping him?"

The black haired woman from the gate earlier growled in reply, having since then lost her playful demeanor for a growling snarling countenance that indicated she would love to rip out someone's heart right then. Pausing between sentences to pant, she ground out, "You. Be. Quiet. You have. No right. To call yourself. His mother."

This treatment didn't have the intended effect on the indignant redhead, perhaps because she had little experience with the adventures of her son's life, unlike the others present. "How dare you say that! He's my little boy, and I waited ten long years to see him again only to have you people take him away from me."

Still having trouble controlling her breathing enough to finish entire sentences, the irate black haired woman growled out slowly, "How dare I? How dare I?! That's my daughter crying over him. They grew up together, and **I** watched over them. I had to treat him better, because she would have died for him before she even hit puberty! She even sleeps at the foot of her own damn bed waiting for him to return!"

Even though she wasn't the target of the woman's ire, even Akane was a bit cowed, though her stubborn nature gave her the courage to ask, "Well, why isn't someone helping them? I think her leg is broke."

The woman's breathing seemed to have calmed somewhat, but her eyes seemed more intent and dangerous as she carefully replied. "I'm a killer, not a healer. I doubt she's even noticed she's injured, much less cares. Knowing her, if he doesn't get up soon and smile at her, she'll just curl up and die. So if he's not better soon, her leg is the least of my concerns."

It was Kasumi that noticed first, but gradually the rest of the group looked over without being told to notice the woman in the blue kimono tending to Ranma.

* * *

Kneeling beside Ranma, the Lady of the House gently placed her hands near his forehead before closing her eyes in composed concentration. After a tense moment for everyone in the room, Sakura turned to regard Maria, still in her underclothes with Utena and a number of house servants standing beside her. "Maria, stay with Ranma and see to him. It's a concussion, so he isn't to be jarred or moved until a healer gets here. Utena, keep Aki company please."

Following Maria over to Ranma's side and away form the gathered group of onlookers waiting for orders, Utena addressed Sakura instead of kneeling beside Ranma with Maria. "Ah, who is Aki?"

With a wave of her hand, Sakura indicated the slender gild curled up beside Ranma with her head resting on his torso. "She's his childhood pet. Just keep her company please, someone else will tend to her leg."

"Her leg?" Curiosity striking her since the dog girl seemed to preoccupied with Ranma's breathing, Utena examined her legs, having to pull away the translucent silk skirts to spot a rip in the girl's black panty hose. There was no blood or wound, but now that she could clearly see the outline of the leg, she could tell it was bent unnaturally. She almost demanded to know what the hell was going on here, but a quick glance around revealed that the situation was still apparently underway and they didn't need her underfoot, so she sat as ordered, choosing to keep a wary eye on the detained group outside.

Making her way out carefully through the partially cleared away rubble, Sakura made her way to behind and to the side of the woman that had admitted to being Aki's mother. "Kimiko, what has happened here?"

Reluctant to back away form her guard duty, the black haired woman held her ground, combat knives held at the ready now that she wasn't too angry to think clearly. "The Hibiki boy attacked the Master unawares, injuring both of them. Ayumi ensnared the group and knocked him into the Forest of Lost Souls. She left us orders to kill any of them that try anything."

Gazing off in the direction, Sakura seemed to contemplate the situation. "So that explains her where abouts. Very well then, Kimiko, set up security for Lord Ranma. When he's ready to be moved, he's to be placed in the Chamber of the Sun. Until then tend to your daughter. Once that's done, return to me."

Kimiko perked up immediately, quickly hopping back out of her place in the circle. "Thank you Mistress." Tracing a quick bow, she was quick to go to her daughter's side so she could set the leg, allowing for the demon healing factor to finish the rest.

With Ranma's safety arranged, Sakura turned her full attention to the group of impromptu shrubbery before her, carefully considering them as if judgment were going to be passed. Few present doubted that was going occur given their present state. Finding something within the group, she posed them a surprising question. "Is there anyone here who wishes for Ayumi to spare the Hibiki boy?"

"What?!" exclaimed Akane, supplier of surprised outbursts and outraged tirades.

The Lady of the House remained perfectly composed as she explained clearly, "Well, if someone wishes too, they may bargain for his life. I doubt Ayumi will give up her kill under no other circumstances."

Several in the group stared at Sakura's cold and uncaring offer. Akane however was outraged that the woman would treat poor Ryouga like that. "What? Can't you just order your flunky to back off? And get us out of this perverted weed garden?"

"No to both. Ayumi and a number of ninja you are currently finding hostile serve the Lord of the House, and as he is currently unconscious, they will deal with any threats in their own manner." So saying, Sakura's only change in response was to gaze at Akane in particular.

Akane blinked at that, not finding quite the answer she wanted. After all, wasn't this woman in charge? "Well still can't you do something?"

Sakura at that moment bowed her head and closed her eyes, raising her right hand to her heart. "I am afraid you misunderstand, I serve my Lord most faithfully. I find myself reluctant to offer even this much."

"What kind of person are you?! Ranchan would never stand for such cruelty!" ,cried a distraught Okonomiyaki chef.

Long silky black hair fluttering lightly in the growing breeze, Sakura turned to gaze at her surroundings in contemplation. "I suppose not." Catching sight of a wandering firefly, she murmured, "perhaps he will be displeased, but he shall be safe, ne Ayumi?"

The firefly pulsed once, becoming a softball sized globe of light, then again, enlarging into a softly glowing basketball of forest flavored chi. It maintained this state of stability for a moment before exploding into a maelstrom of natural life energies, revealing the busty ninja girl Ayumi in all of her battle glory, aura blazing and hands covered in blood. "Yeah, so how is he?"

Briefly, Sakura closed her eyes in an attempt to establish a more serene atmosphere, knowing that Ayumi wouldn't receive what she had to say well. "It's what I feared might happen. He's in a coma at the moment, but we should be able to safely wake him in about a week, perhaps sooner."

"What?" exclaimed the youngest Tendou girl, shocked and slightly appalled at her statement. "It was just a little bump to the head. He gets hit on the head all of the time." Slightly unsure, she continued, "I mean, he's probably faking, he'll just get up and laugh at you for worrying."

Stepping away from the group and turning, Sakura let out a quiet sigh, "How I wish that was true, but his condition is poor. Normally it wouldn't be a concern, but he's still recovering from psychic surgery, hence why we are intent on guarding him from harm. He'll receive our best care of course, but it will take time for his mind to knit together."

Snarling somewhat, the green haired kunoichi glanced over at her mistress before choosing Akane to glare at. With a cutting hand gesture, the grasping grass and vines receded into the ground. "Alright then, we'll just finish this quickly. If you've got issues or an inkling of wanting to harm Ranma, then let's get it on, we'll settle everything right now."

Seeing no one eager to accept the bloodstained kunoichi's offer to fight, she decided to spur them along, "Come on, get the lead out, this is your last chance, after this there will be no forgiveness."

Stepping near the irate ninja girl, Sakura turned slightly towards her to address her, "That's enough now. Nabiki and Kasumi Tendou, you can step away from the group since you're invited." Beckoning them forward, she led the far enough away that they were noticeably apart form the group, but not so far that they were uncomfortably separated.

"Hey, what's this about? How'd Nabiki get invited?" ,not that actually doubted Nabiki worming her way in, but she felt the matter needed to be protested at least.

"Quite simple, your middle sister called before hand to ask if she could stay here and attend school with her older sister. As for what this is about, it's quite simple. Would everyone who's struck or harmed Ranma outside of sparring practice raise their hands?" Seeing everyone left in the group eventually raise their hands, sometimes with the prodding of a neighbor, she considered the case closed.

Seeing the idiots with their hands up in what could be considered enemy territory, Ayumi grumped at their foolishness. "So what do you want done with them?"

Sakura glanced over at her, bringing up a slightly different subject. "What about the Hibiki boy?"

Cracking her neck slightly to loosen it up after staying still so soon after a fight, Ayumi made her intentions clear, "I haven't decided what to do with him yet, but just finishing him off seemed unsatisfying. I don't really want to hand him over to Kaede either. I suppose I'll leave it with the forest for now."

Nodding her head in acknowledgement of her report, Sakura addressed the group of violent Nerima regulars, "Well then, if anyone wants to bargain for his life, now is the time, he could die any moment now."

Seeing everyone, including Sakura looking at her expectantly, Akane blurted out, "Hey, what's everyone looking at me for?"

Raising her hand again, Ukyou volunteered. "Okay, I'll do it, what do you want?"

Catching up with the conversation, the youngest Tendou raised her hand as well, "Fine, I'll go along with this, but what kind of people are you to do this?"

Ayumi bowed her head slightly, casting her eyes into shadow and peering at the young girl through her green bangs, suddenly appearing dark and menacing. "I'm a ninja little girl, the real kind. My life belongs to him and I'll do anything in my power for him. I'll also do what I believe must be done, even if he demands my life in return. Bear that in mind girl, because what Sakura is really asking is for me to show mercy, and I shall not unless it's in his best interests." Glancing over meaningfully at the Chinese trio, the moody ninja girl left them a final statement to consider, "I'll even bury a village or few if I have to."

Silence reigned for a moment, chiefly because Cologne silenced her two impetuous young wards. During that time, Ayumi actually considered what the two girls might have to offer that would outweigh someone like Ryouga wandering around with his ability to sneak past defenses. "Sorry girls, but you're not worth it."

"What?" ,cried both Akane and Ukyou in disbelief, however, since it wasn't an illusion, their effort at disbelief was wasted, Ayumi was still dismissing them.

"I was considering what you might have to offer, but even if both of you promised to serve Ranma faithfully, the hassle wouldn't be worth letting that boy free to attack again." stated Ayumi simply.

"That's crazy, why would I do anything for that pervert?" demanded Akane while Ukyou put her feelings in order.

Sighing at the injustice of it all, the ninja girl exasperatedly asked, "Why are you wasting my time? Why waste your time coming here with that attitude? Did you think you'd waltz in here and have him follow you home like a trained monkey?"

Upset and not thinking straight, Akane blurted out, "I'm his fiancée, of course he'll come back home, right after I save him form you kidnappers."

"Hah, you have the nerve to call yourself his fiancée? He was just putting up with you because he promised himself he'd tough it out and put up with that fat fool's blunders until he was eighteen. I guess he figured someone might redeem their self in that much time." opined Ayumi, hoping beyond hope that that would finally drive the point home, but deciding that elaborating would help. "We're his home, his family." The dark brooding aura dropped for a moment as the ninja girl quietly continued with a funny look on her face as she self-consciously looked away. "That's what he calls us, even as we teach him we're his servants."

Not waiting for the girl to finish and missing her last quiet statement, Akane shouted in outrage and pain, "So what?! He had this all planned out? Lead us along for a few years and then run off with you floozies?"

Gathering herself together as she realized she'd exposed herself somewhat for a moment, Ayumi gave the irate girl a sickly grin, "Heh, stupid girl, he gave you plenty of chances. You had a chance at him that a lot of girls would give anything for and you blew it. Instead of using your time as fiancées, you girls skipped right on to the jealous girlfriend phase and ruined any chances of anything significant growing between you.

Frustrated with all of the accusations, with people always judging her, she angrily denied her part in it. "Hey, it isn't like that! You don't know what I had to put up with!"

"Really?" Ayumi grinned as she continued her verbal assault on the girl's psyche, "So tell me, what did he want for the future? What would make him happy?" The assembled group stared back stupidly for a moment, considering briefly their own ideas and finding them plagued with doubts.

For Soun, did Ranma actually want a dojo, or to get married, much less to his own precious little girl. While the boy took great joy in the martial arts, he didn't seem interested in marrying or becoming an honorable sensei. Perhaps the boy just hadn't had enough time to grow and mature to feel the need to settle down.

Kasumi found it a sad thought that she knew so little about Ranma. She did however know he genuinely appreciated her cooking and when she would mend his shirts. Memories of him being happy at those moments flooded her, making her realize something simple, he didn't get near enough of those moments. They were easy to supply, and he would have had more fond memories if she hadn't made way for Akane to spend more time with her fiancée, not that Akane took those chances.

Nabiki kept her peace, because while she knew the tidbit about being a prince, she didn't know what the plans were. She did however know what he didn't want, and that was good enough for now.

After wrestling with whether she should even care or not, Akane actually considered something what Ranma might want, and as usual, she didn't understand him. The only thing that kept popping into mind was Ranma fighting, Ranma annoying her, and Ranma with girls. Considering that and what Ranma's current situation looked like, she came to a simple conclusion. "He wants a big harem of girls fawning over him, isn't that what you've set up here?"

Many of those assembled chose to stare at Akane for a bit, the freshly assembled ninja girls doing so with eager expressions. A pink haired one was actually bouncing in place in her eagerness. "That's a great idea, can we? Mistress Sakura, Miss Ayumi, we could have a lot of fun and dress up and everything!"

Sakura turned to regard the energetic young girl for a moment. "An amusing idea. While it's not quite traditional, it would make a great number of people happy. It will be a while before such should be considered though. You of all people should know he's shy."

Deflating slightly, the pink haired kunoichi sighed and nodded, knowing she had been overeager one already.

Shaking her head at her students antics, past and present, Ayumi addressed Akane again, "You might care to know, but Ranma is still quite virgin, won't even feel a girl up." Shaking off her disappointed frown, she continued, "So you're wrong, Ranma's about the only one here that doesn't want that outcome. Anyone else care to make a fool of themselves?"

Shampoo at that point was at a true loss. She was pretty sure Ranma didn't want to return to the Amazon village, and for some unfathomable reason he didn't seem to want Shampoo. Obviously though these girls here knew what they were doing, because they were encountering the same problem, yet making progress.

Cologne kept her thoughts to herself, because guessing correctly wouldn't do her any good and destroy any chance Shampoo had of figuring it out for herself and winning some favor here.

Mousse found he had a simple problem once he considered it that way. He wanted Shampoo, Shampoo wanted Ranma, and Ranma didn't want Shampoo. Mousse couldn't really fathom it, but Ranma didn't want Shampoo for some unfathomable reason. Perhaps if he could figure out what Ranma wanted so the boy could move on, Shampoo would be able to put this foolish quest behind her.

The Saotome Matriarch found herself with a dilemma of her own. She had yet to sit down with her son and speak to him, to have a heart to heart. While she had her beliefs about her son, they were more based on expectations than her limited time with her son. While she would love to tell these people off, but she had a horrible feeling that might tell her the truth she didn't know, and that would mean these strangers were closer to her child then she was.

Even as a seasoned chef, Ukyou had her own doubts with Ranma, however, she was fairly sure he'd be happier with her then he was at the Tendou's. Maybe she couldn't offer anything fancy, but she could make Ranma comfortable and happy. With her restaurant she could support him enough so he could continue his martial arts freely, perhaps winning some tournaments or getting some sponsors. Of course that was based on what she used to know. It seemed likely now that Ranma had other childhood friends that lived at this place, the strange girl wearing the tail being the most likely suspect.

She knew she didn't really have a right to say anything, but Konatsu had considered what Ukyou and Ranma might do for the short time she had known them both. Both had done much for her, and she would have liked to see them happy as a result. Ukyou she understood fairly well, the girl just wanted a happy life with Ranma and her restaurant and was willing to allow room for Konatsu in that. Such an outcome would have pleased the kunoichi as well, as she would be servant to both then and able to repay their kindness.

Ranma on the other hand, she had to admit she knew not of his goals. She had often wondered what it was he desired. The situation in Nerima hadn't seemed suited to him, yet he did what he could to maintain the happiness of the area and even preserve a status quo that wasn't favorable to him. She had always thought he didn't pursue the engagements because he had not wanted any of them. Perhaps in the light of new information, he had no reason to choose, and simply kept the quo so the girls could all have a chance.

That being said, judging by the reception, none of the girls had passed whatever test there might have been. Having thought most of that before allowed Konatsu to keep something else in mind. "Excuse me, Miss Ayumi, if two aren't enough, would three be enough?"

The green haired kunoichi gave the black haired pseudo kunoichi a curious look. "Three?"

The boy pretending to be girl ninja nodded politely, "Yes, three lives of service for the life of Ryouga."

The ninja mistress blinked at the offer, considering the worth of it. "Well, this is unexpected. You're suitable to be a kunoichi, despite your birth status. With a little extra training you might even be able to fend off someone like Ryouga. However, I would much rather just have the business with him over and done with. Give me a moment to think about this."

The chef stared at her waitress, surprised to hear her making such an offer. "Konatsu, are you serious? Do you even know Ryouga?"

Konatsu ducked her head in embarrassment, not wishing to upset her mistress. "It's not really about Ryouga. While I am happy as your waitress, I would be just as happy to serve beside you. I also do wish to be a true kunoichi with a master, and there are only two people I would wish for that position." Smiling shyly at Ukyou, she continued, "As you see, my reasons are entirely selfish."

Not wanting to think about what Konatsu was saying, partially because a cross-dressing kunoichi joining Ranma's harem was really perverted, Akane decided to reasonably reinstate her complaint. "What the hell are you on about? You're still not satisfied? How could you toy with Ryouga's life like this?" Seeing the situation starting to deteriorate, Kasumi stepped up behind her sister and quietly put her hands on her shoulders. "It will be okay Akane-chan." Looking at the currently irate green haired girl in charge of this, Kasumi beamed her a gentle smile in the hopes it would restore her spirits so she could clearly consider the matters at hand. Seeing the situation was still tense, she decided to do something very odd for her and make a serious choice. "I know I can't offer as much as others, but I will join as well. Would four be enough?"

Giving a reluctant smile, Ayumi threw her hands up in the air, sending her chest bouncing in her disheveled mini-kimono. "Fine, you win. I'll get him some medical attention and drop him off with Kaede. She can take care of him." Stepping back from the group, she stood near Sakura and Nabiki. "Alright then, if I have your word of honor you four will serve Ranma faithfully, step over here."

Experiencing a bit of doubt, Ukyou glanced beside her to Konatsu, only to find the pseudo girl looking expectantly at her. Finding herself still in doubt about all of this, she decided to encourage her good hearted but bumbling kunoichi onwards. "You go on Konatsu, I'm still trying to sort out my feelings."

Smiling at her mistress, Konatsu felt blessed by her friendship once again. "I shall wait for your decision Mistress Ukyou."

Finding herself troubled, Ukyou chewed on her lower lip in thought, "But, isn't this what you want? You could be a kunoichi instead of a waitress, and they look like they're well equipped. So, it would be best for you."

Nodding her head in deference to her mistress, Konatsu chose to reasonably disagree, "I am fond of you both, and I would be happy serving as a waitress or ninja. However, if you two aren't together, then I feel my place is with you, doing what I can."

While she was touched at Konatsu's loyalty and thoughtfulness, one statement of her's stood out the most in her mind. Her and Ranma not being together. Her best and possibly only chance might be working on the inside. Doing otherwise, she felt like would be giving up on Ranma, and that was unthinkable for her. Stepping forward, she resolutely walked over to the bloody ninja girl, Konatsu a step behind her. "Alright. I spent ten years training for revenge on Ranchan. I can spend ten years at his beck and call if that's what it takes."

Ayumi managed to keep it off of her face, but while she was happy at the girl's commitment, she found the fact she'd forgotten all about Ryouga amusing. At least she felt Ukyou might honor such a promise now, one of her biggest concerns with Ukyou and Akane.

Seeing Ukyou and Konatsu step up and Akane still unmoving, Kasumi gave her little sister's shoulder a gentle squeeze to encourage her. "It's okay Akane-chan, I'm right behind you."

Hearing her sister encourage her to join Ranma's little harem was enough of an impetus to cause Akane to step forward, only to whirl around and grab her older sister's arms so she could state at her in shock with a hint of heat. What was Kasumi of all people doing encouraging all of this? "What are you doing? How could you agree to this? How could you agree to being Ranma's slave?"

Smiling gently at her little sister, Kasumi managed not to show much of the turmoil and worry she was feeling over doing something so impetuous. "Well, I wanted to help you save Ryouga-kun. Besides, it won't be so bad."

Akane gaped at her dear sweet innocent and extremely naive older sister, of course she couldn't understand what Ranma was capable of. While a lot of her knowledge of how boys thought came form the hentai horde and her own private collection of hentai manga, she had caught Ranma in plenty of compromising situations and knew from her 'research' exactly what he was truly up to. "You don't know what he's capable of Kasumi! He's a pervert and he'll mistreat you!"

Of course, Akane didn't realize Kasumi passed the boring parts of the day by reading her collection of naughty manga, along with Nabiki's stash. She also never considered the possibility of Ranma being an innocent when it came to sex. The thought of herself as Ranma's plaything would usually have made her blush uncontrollably, but instead she took offense with Akane's accusations this time. "That's enough Akane-chan. I trust Ranma." 'Just like you should,' she mentally appended to herself.

Not understanding her normally reasonable older sister a bit, Akane couldn't think of any other arguments in her frustration. "Come Kasumi, you can't do this. You don't know what you're doing."

Sighing quietly, Kasumi gave her little sister a final sad smile before stepping past her. Stopping in front of the kunoichi mistress, she politely bowed to her before addressing her. "Please excuse me Miss Ayumi, but please forgive my sister. Can you settle for the three of us, perhaps with Akane-chan promising to leave Ranma alone?"

Giving the girl a half-hearted smile for being braver than she expected, Ayumi nodded her head in acceptance before quietly speaking. "That should be alright, three honest promises are much more than the four half-hearted ones I was expecting."

Running on emotion and instinct, the young Tendou stomped her way over to the group, before speaking without giving her words any real thought. "Like hell! If Kasumi's going so will I!"

The green haired kunoichi quirked an eyebrow at the irate girl, finding her statement mildly amusing. "and am I supposed to take you seriously after what you've said? I'm not going to let you in on a promise you intend to break."

Finding an opening, Akane stood triumphantly with on finger pointing proudly at the cruel woman before her. "I'll do it until I find out what you're up to. Until I bust your scheme though I'll play your sick little game."

Grinning like a wolf finally cornering her prey, a sight which actually momentarily shocked Akane, Ayumi brought up an interesting point. "Well, what if there is no scheme? What if you're wrong about Ranma?"

Deflated somewhat, Akane settled on staring back at her instead of letting any doubt show.

The kunoichi however didn't want things to stand as they were, she wasn't in the mood for halfway measures. "If you can convince Kasumi to leave, then you can leave as well. However, since for the time being Ranma is going to own you, you'll find out without a doubt what kind of guy he is, because there will be nothing stopping him if he wants something from you."

The thought of Ranma being able to do anything to her with no one to stop him and what he might do was too much for her, causing Akane to betray herself with a nervous gulp. Prideful as ever though, she wasn't about to back down, despite the sinking realization she had jumped into something she never should have agreed to. "Alright, if that's your game, lets play."

Hearing the girl finally agree, Ayumi glanced over the rest of the group before glancing over to Sakura. After a moment of silence, Sakura quietly nodded before speaking up. "If everyone will excuse us, we have important matters to attend to. Kasumi, Nabiki, if you would come with me I'll show you to your rooms."

After Nabiki and Kasumi went to her side as requested, she made no move to leave, instead addressing her head ninja. "Ayumi, take those three into hand and relieve Kimiko. When Kimiko gets out she can take over as their unit leader for now."

The green haired woman nodded, idly eyeing the rest of the group. "and the rest?"

Sakura nodding, since it was still a civil matter she would deal with them. "To be honest, you people aren't invited. You can leave now, and if you return uninvited, you will be considered hostile until proven otherwise." Seeing the group was silent, she didn't give them a chance to recover, choosing then to turn and make her way into the mansion.

Seeing what was left of the Nerima group standing there at the entrance in shock, took a moment to compose herself before settling into the business of clearing them out. "You heard the Lady, time to leave."

Temporarily finding his courage, the Tendou patriarch spoke out against the apparently viscious kunoichi. "You expect me to leave my babies behind?" Seeing his awesome rage was having no effect on the traitorous ninja, he changed expressions and attempted another route. "Come-on Akane, you don't have to do this. Come on home and we'll talk some sense into Ranma and get this all cleared up."

Frustrated with her father's meddling, Akane responded with frustration, "Dad! Leave me alone! I can handle this." For once she wished that he would treat her like an adult instead of babying her. The fact that this time she might actually need help just added insult to injury.

The green haired kunoichi, unfazed by Soun's attempt at intimidation, turned to the youngest Tendou in amusement. "Indeed, Miss Tendou, would you escort Mister Tendou and Mister Saotome off the premises?" Hearing the reasonable manner in which she was asked, Akane was taken back by the green haired ninja girl asking her to do it like it was an everyday thing. "What?"

Sighing at the necessity of having to repeat herself for such impetuous youth, Ayumi decided to clarify what she wanted in a slow clear voice. "You're getting a chance to prove yourself. If you don't do it, I'll have someone else do it and they won't be so gentle."

Hearing the voice of an adult trying to be reasonable, Akane considered what the woman was implying. Since she didn't want her father here to begin with causing trouble and embarrassing her, she didn't see any reason not to do as she was asked. "Fine, come on dad, time to go home." Suiting words to actions, she grabbed her father by the elbow and the still comatose fat Saotome by the gi, she began dragging both of them towards the gate they entered from.

While his baby girl going against his wishes and throwing him out wasn't too unusual, her listening to a woman she obviously hated and doing so was surprising. Perhaps she was doing it to reunite with her wayward fiancée like a good daughter? Whatever the case may have been, it didn't change the fact that her grip hurt and she was being none too gentle in her escort. "Baby, what are you doing? How could you do this to your loving father? Who's going to cook dinner?"

Considering his request, Akane sadly had to admit that the two fathers were big babies that could barely care for themselves. Without herself or Kasumi there to look after them, that just left Mrs. Saotome. Looking back pointedly at Saotome Matriarch, she asked, "You coming?"

Looking sad and alone, yet resolute as she wrung her hands over her silk wrapped katana, the red-headed woman quietly responded. "No dear, I'm going to wait for my son."

Akane briefly looked at her for a moment more, before her squirming father prompted her to turn and continue with getting the two fathers out. She was saved from having to consider what might befall Nodoka by concentrating on the fact that she only had two hands and more than enough for her to deal with at the moment.

Ayumi glanced over at the unsure young woman who only had her honor katana to keep her company. The woman wasn't likely to go violent, but she looked determined enough that getting her to leave would cause some trouble. It shouldn't be to hard to preoccupy her however. "I expected as much, Ukyou and Konatsu, would you keep Miss Saotome company?"

Ukyou glanced over to the head kunoichi to see what she meant, but Konatsu understood because this was what she lived for. They were being given a simple task to test them. Knowing this she lightly pulled Ukyou along, wanting to make a good impression and keep her mistress out of trouble.

Seeing everyone but the Amazons having been dealt with in some form or another, Ayumi turned her gaze to them, wanting to get this over with already. "Don't you three have a restaurant to run?"

Looking levelly back in return from her perch on her staff, the amazon elder replied, "The same could said of Miss Kounji."

Ayumi briefly looked over the afore mentioned chef, considering what to do about that. Deciding it was something to handle later after things had settled, she decided to not give the old woman any extra leverage. "Well that's something we'll take care of, probably after she talks with Ranma."

Cologne of course didn't miss the tone, the woman wanted them gone and soon. While they weren't likely to make any headway today concerning Ranma, she's show these ninja that amazons weren't to be taken lightly. "Well, then, supposing we leave, how would we keep in contact. Son-in-Law is quite important to us." The ninja mistress however was prepared for verbal sparring, glad for the benefits of being briefed by a psychic. Given what she knew of how the amazons treated Ranma, she found their assertion to be a curious thing. "Oh, is that so? Guess it depends on why he's important to you. See, we happen to know the cat-girl there still has an outstanding Kiss of Death, and duck-boy has tried everything from cursing to killing him. That's not to mention the occasional other amazon."

Stepping out form the house at her own slow pace, Sakura picked up the conversation like she had been there the entire time. "Indeed, the only true oddity there would be you elder. After apparently winning some initial respect from you, you've essentially left it up to the children. Still however, we can't stand for the girl's attempts of what amount to enslavement, or the boy's attempted assassinations. It's just not proper behavior."

The elder narrowed her eyes at the accusations, knowing they were damaging and determined to return them just as well. "What my grand-daughter employed were mere love charms and tricks, piddling nuisances compared to having a psychic go through someone's mind. How are we to know what other tricks might have been employed?"

Ayumi and a number of other ninja within earshot and visible bristled at the accusations, only calming down minutely as Sakura spoke in turn, "Perhaps, one might say your grand-daughter has failed so far only for lack of motivation, carrying through with the only courses of action she understood. On the other hand, tampering with Ranma's mind is a more dangerous proposition than you realize. He's a fully formed empath now, and that makes him resistant to psychic invasion and illusion. I only removed some psychic scar tissue, originally to deal with the nekoken, so that he could become stronger."

Cologne was a bit surprised and actually worried at how openly the lady explained what had happened, along with virtually excusing her grand-daughter. No that wasn't right, she condemned Shampoo's action, but in a round about way pointed out what the girl was doing wrong. That might mean Shampoo would get a second chance if she changed her approach. The openness about what she did was the troubling part, indicating the woman had no fear of admitting it.

Glancing around at the surrounding people, she noted she still had a number of angry ninja, an upset grand daughter, and a smug duck that was likely to do something stupid on a moment's notice. All things considered it might be best to leave now before a serious fight broke out. "So how do you propose we keep in contact so we know he's okay?"

The kimono clad lady of the house carefully considered the request before her, before quietly making her pronouncement. "You can return next week, Ranma should be conscious then. Until then, is there a volunteer to go with them and act as liaison?"

The simple request led up to an increase in activity as unseen ninja in the trees broke off to deliver and receive messages between their cells. A mere moment later she had three utilitarian dressed ninja kneeling by her side waiting for her verdict. Of the three, she singled out a blue haired woman, addressing her, "Would your reason for going involve certain rouge demon slayers?" Receiving a nod form the kunoichi, she pronounced, "You may observe from a distance, but that problem will be dealt with later. Do not draw their attention. As for the three of you, you will form a temporary cell. Keep an eye on the fathers so we have advance knowledge of their foolishness, and give whatever information you deem appropriate to relations."

Getting three nods of acceptance, Sakura extended one arm towards the gate in a gentle sweeping gesture. "Very well then, see that they make it to the train station and onwards, especially the two fathers."

Seeing the ninja moving into action, Cologne addressed the two amazon children with her. "Very well, we'll leave for now. Come Shampoo."

Seeing the amazons leaving and Akane returning, Sakura turned to her remaining uninvited guest. "Well then, I suppose guarding you shall be their first duty, I assume you would be most comfortable in Miss Tendou's and Miss Kounji's company?"

Hesitantly Nodoka Saotome nodded, seeing the wisdom in that, though curious about why she was trusting Akane and Ukyou so much.

Seeing everything outside was in hand, Sakura nodded once before returning once more to the house.

After a moment of watching the various visible ninja depart, the assembled girls began to get impatient as Ayumi didn't seem intent on going anywhere. Unable to take the suspense of five minutes of quiet, Akane impatiently broke the silence. "Well? What now? What about Ranma? or Ryouga?"

The busty ninja girl sighed at the injustice of having to deal with these people. Couldn't they have waited a bit longer until it was out of her hands? "I already drug the stupid pig-boy off to Kaede, so he'll survive. Ranma's stable and just gonna take time."

Finding something finally, Akane pointed triumphantly at the overstacked ninja as she proudly proclaimed, "Aha! You couldn't have done that because you've been here. Either you left him to die, or you'd already spared him and just tricked us!"

Ayumi in turn gave the girl a flat stare as she pursed in an attempt to keep her cool. "mhmm, or you could be talking to a standard ninja doppelganger sent to deal with some pests." Hearing the girl start babbling protests questions and other inane trivia that Ayumi felt didn't concern her, she instead brightened as a certain ninja finally made her way over. "Took you long enough Kimiko, here's your three new students and one fictional parent, have fun and try not to kill 'em in frustration."

To the Nerima girl's surprise, the busty ninja turned a transparent green before vanishing in a swirl of leaves. Seeing the group without an escort, the black leather clad kunoichi made her way over to them, noting their looks of surprise. Irritated with her assignment already, she just had to find out if they were as clueless as they looked. "What? None of you knew that was an illusion of her?"

The remaining Nerima group quelled for the moment as they didn't want to answer, Kimiko turned and began the walk toward her house in the back forest. "Guess you four are bunking with me. Dunno what you're thinking, but follow my lead for now at least, the guard is gonna be tight and unforgiving tonight."

Nodding mutely and wondering what they had gotten themselves into, the girls from Nerima quietly followed the woman that looked like she came from the streets, idly eyeing moving foliage and shadows for killer ninja.

Except for the kimono clad pseudo-kunoichi Konatsu, she eyed the flitting shadows with a hint of childish glee, eager to finally become a true kunoichi.

* * *

Stepping into the house, Sakura glanced about herself before scanning the area. Finding none of the interlopers within her vicinity, she reached out with her mind through the earth towards where Ranma was. With him as an anchor, she easily grasped the hewn stone room he was laying in. Pulling back slightly, she focused on the anteroom connecting it to the rest of the palace. Tensing her mental reserves for a moment, she released them, finding herself where she envisioned.

Stepping through the anteroom, she finally beheld him, lying in quiet repose on a fur in the middle of a circular relief in the floor. Around him were arranged the elite of the compound, spirit weavers, chi masters and psychics, all sitting around the perimeter of the relief, maintaining auras of energy which raised the ambient energy, with all of the excess energy gently seeping into the sleeping young man in the center.

Kneeling down, she solemnly focused her own powers, adding her own psychic energies so they could gently envelop the healing bath of energies. From here she could send her presence abroad to investigate other matters and still maintain her link in the circle, but she was going to entrust their security to the shinobi. Instead she cast about the room, finding several shinobi and well wishers. Almost directly across from the anteroom was Utena, with the now healed Aki resting partially in her lap, and Maria at her side.

Feeling them out, the concern was no surprise coming from Maria, but recriminations about not stopping the attack when she was fully powered were somewhat surprising. That was an issue that might need tending to later, though time spent with Ranma would likely sooth it.

Utena seemed to be overwhelmed by the situation. First the assault on her prince and a feeling of helplessness. Then tending to Aki, only to later have her mother come in and snap her broken leg back into proper shape, leaving that as the only medical treatment the poor girl received. Now the girl was simply at a loss for what to do or even feel.

The aforementioned demon dog-girl was sadly no surprise in her state, she was a bundle of sad puppy inside. The pain of her leg being set had been enough for her to notice it dimly, but she had paid it no heed, not even realizing when it had healed. She was only miserable and alone, even more so than the last three years without her Ranma.

Knowing that the best cure for their sad hearts would be a healthy Ranma, she recentered herself with no regrets about not helping them now. Their presence didn't hinder his recovery, but they contributed no substance to it either. Rather, their concern and feelings tinted the swirling energies, flavoring them in a way likely to draw Ranma back from the twilight brink of death.

Focusing inwards on him, she envisioned his soul, a helpful indicator of his health in this instance, as his mind in body were in balance with it due to her actions weeks ago. Finding the general feel of his aura, she focused in even further, seeing the dim dark grey disk of discarded detritus. Above that fog of taint floated a gentle pulsing blob of light, illuminating the hazy mass below.

Focusing in further, the globule of light resolved itself into smaller globules of light, with sparse strands of light interconnecting them and the occasional speck of light drifting between them. Those globules were representations of his memories and skills. The strands of light were pathways connecting them to make a whole mind, at this point they were as fragile as spider silk strands. The motes of light themselves were misplaced memories, displaced by the shock and gradually breaking free and drifting to their proper places.

Before his psychic surgery, his mind had been nothing like this, instead having the globules forced together and misshapen by globs of darkness. Entire globule sections had been composed of what was now detritus, notably surrounding the nekoken and his curse. That dark tar however had held him together before, forming a myriad of pathways, albeit poorly functioning ones.

With time however, the now pure consciousness would form it's own pathways, spider silk giving way to a shell of steel strands. The clean connections would take their own time to form however, but be so much stronger and efficient, leaving new room to grow. Like any person that experienced pain and hardships in life, his soul would accumulate more detritus, but with that pain would come new motes of light and strands to hold them all together, strong and unified.

With the new mental strength, the nekoken would be a bad memory, his trip to china no longer a curse, and his empathic powers no longer a hindrance. In fact, with training and time, he would be able to control his emapthic powers, learning to shield himself from pain instead of blindly accepting negative feelings directed at him. He had been partially there, but in his focus on caring for someone, he had left himself open for one terrible moment, and now all that progress had been undone.

There was however, no way she or the others present would let that stand. They would all stay here watching over him until he was as healthy as could be. This opportunity would be used to not only heal him, but strengthen him even further, to stalwart this brittle weakness put into place to open his future.

To those present, they had chosen the boy to be their future, so bringing his full potential to bear was dearly important. To Sakura and Ayumi however, it was not the future of their people and adoptive tribe that concerned them, but their own futures and happiness.

* * *

Dimly and faintly, sensation came into a being, a persistent all encompassing buzz of pain. As unknown time passed, aches became apparent. Finally a state of wakefulness was reached as the discomfort prevented a return to unconsciousness. Fleeting thoughts of danger caused the eyes to try to force themselves open in a panic, finding no painful light, but a disappointing dark blur.

Grimacing with pain he held his eyes open as they painstakingly adjusted, putting the darkened room into focus. Finding the view disconcerting due to it's angle, he attempted a concerted effort to move, only to find such action extremely painful and futile. Not even his head could turn, but he could feel his arms held straight out to the sides, and his legs below him, though he felt no floor beneath him. The only thing of importance he could see in the room were thick suspicious lines of webbing, particularly the streamers leading towards his body beyond his field of vision. Being stubborn, he ineffectually wiggled in his prison, considering the searing pain better than not trying to break free.

As his body tired anew, a quiet sultry feminine voice from behind caught his attention, cutting through the pain and stilling him so he could hear her better.

Again clearly now toned the voice, much closer and crisper, "Oh, do please continue struggling, let me see you writhe in pain." While the voice was definitely creepy, the soft hand brushing his cheek caused him to jump, ripping a muffled shout of pain from him as pain lanced through his abused shoulders.

Stepping around him to appear in his limited field of vision was a young woman in a black dress with short black hair and a sinisterly delighted expression upon her beautiful face. "Oh, I'm being a bad host, do you know what's befallen you, thou poor lost soul?"

Receiving a bewildered expression and a faint attempt at a head shake, she continued, "Well, while the young Master was attending to his lonesome pet puppy, you assaulted him unawares. You do know my Master do you not? Ranma-dono is such a sweet and interesting child, why he weaves simply spectacular strands of fate."

Turning to her erstwhile guest, she happily took in his slowly comprehending stare of horror the boy was so famous for. "Oh, I simply must introduce myself, I am Kaede, the fate weaving spider demoness." Feeling a proper description would help shape the mood she was aiming for, she decided to expand a bit. "For allies, I collect magic trinkets and spells to make them more powerful, more useful, and much happier. For interlopers, I keep a store of curses and demonic trinkets, or sometimes I just prepare their souls for devouring. But my true specialty is altering a person's fate, sending those I favor along the path of happiness, while those that displease me become one with their own personal hell."

Grinning widely to show off her fangs and dark red lips, she paused long enough that he could realize she was about to make his day that much more worse. "You my dear little piggy in my web, you are my most very special guest, the kind for which death is too sweet a release. How would you like to be an immortal little piggy, forever reforming a day after your last death? Why you could feed hundreds that way."

Seeing him writhering in horror, trying desperately to get away from her filled her with a great sense of sadistic glee and satisfaction. While he struggled and stained her web bandages with fresh blood, she contently hummer to herself, visibly pleased with herself. After only a few moment however, he once more tired, sagging into his web support harness. Now that he was ready to listen again, she changed tactics, knowing a period of calm was best for inspiring another fit of terror later.

"Well, sadly, I am not to punish you this time. You see, after blindsiding a man who was healing from prior wounds, his bodyguard stepped in. You do remember Ayumi do you not? Short green hair, short purple kimono? The one that beat you mercilessly into your present state?" Seeing a glimmer of painful recognition in his eyes, she relented so she could drive the stake home. "Well, like me, she considered death too sweet a release for someone like you. So she brought you here to me to become my prey."

Turning around so he couldn't see her anticipatory grin of grim delight, she continued in a seductively positive tone, "but then, do you know what happened? Akane and Ukyou decided to trade their lives for yours. Of course, they didn't know they were saving you from a fate worse than death, but it was just the same. Of course, not how you're thinking, but instead something much worse to you, they would give their lives to Ranma, to live by his whim as servant ninja. Of course, Ayumi-chan didn't believe them, such promises were mere hollow things. Then Kasumi and Konatsu joined in, offering their lives as well to tip the balance."

Turning around, she grinned in dark triumph, knowing he was already imagining much worse things, allowing his darkly obsessive mind to do her work for her. Still though, why let him suffer a little when she could drive him further along. "Of course, with dear Kasumi in the mix, Akane can't abandon her empty promise, now can she? Kasumi, the dear that she is, will keep her promise, chaining Akane to hers. Now what do you think Ranma would do with disobedient little Akane-chan?"

Letting him stew in his own overactive dark little imagination again, she instead soaked up the well trained aura of despair surrounding him now, bathing the room in it's sickly darkness. As enjoyable as it was, without being able to find release from his own world of horror, he was starting to lose focus. Since mind numbing horror wasn't quite as satisfying, she decided to finish this so she could tend to her other guests.

"Of course, nothing will happen between Ranma-dono and Akane. Despite what you might think, he would despise her being in such a position, being at his feet in such a way. Of course, that will lead to the worst thing he could do, rejecting the poor girl, stripping her of honor and pride and setting her free to wander soullessly through the world. Not that he would know of course. Perhaps not quite so, perhaps she would be drawn back by her older sister, forced to beg a master that doesn't want a slave."

Seeing the horror fresh on his face, the pleasure of his renewed despair was slightly marred by having to speak of the possible future. Perhaps she would nudge the girl towards a happier future, one that wouldn't cause her pride and stubbornness to break her. Certainly Ranma-dono would appreciate it. Feeling the sickly despair begin to wane again, she smiled pleasantly at her prey again. "I honor her promise however, so after you recover in my care, you will be evicted, as unharmed as possible. I won't miss the pleasure of escorting you into the hell you brag about visiting so often, because I know you will wander willingly back into my web. Do take care until then."

Smiling and waving pleasantly at the horror shocked boy, she fairly bounced along corridors towards her next patient. His punishment would be more normal, but at least she would get to do something besides inflict a little mental anguish. Reaching the doorway, she teasingly called out to him. "Oh dear Tate-chan, you've been ever such a bad boy. Whatever shall I do with you? Why, I think I'll visit Kodachi-chan and see if she has any ideas, she's such a dear imaginative girl."

Swirling away from the door, she disappeared down yet another hallway, her gentle trilling laughter chilling the poor souls in her wake.

* * *

Aki, Kimiko and Kaede are original characters. Kaede is actually a 'neutral' demoness, she was just being mean to Ryouga because he's off limits for the moment. Kimiko is a wolf demon who generally fights with claws or knives. Aki currently only has the ability to travel through the shadow realm.****

**Contact info:** email  
ICQ # 1685995. If you're using ICQ, please be semi-polite and to the point. I'm generally happy to discuss things but not much for small talk.  
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